science

So where the bloody hell are you?

So where the bloody hell are you? is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand So where the bloody hell are you? rather than just read about it. In short: So where the bloody hell are you? was a A$180 million advertising campaign launched by Tourism Australia in 2006. It was created by the Sydney office of advertising agency M&C Saatchi, under the approval of Scott Morrison (the future Prime Minister of Australia), who was then managing director of Tourism Australia.

Key takeaways

So where the bloody hell are you? belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect So where the bloody hell are you? to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of So where the bloody hell are you? from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

So where the bloody hell are you? was a A$180 million advertising campaign launched by Tourism Australia in 2006. It was created by the Sydney office of advertising agency M&C Saatchi, under the approval of Scott Morrison (the future Prime Minister of Australia), who was then managing director of Tourism Australia. The advertisements featured Australians preparing for visitors to their country. It begins in an Outback pub with the barkeeper saying, "We've poured you a beer". Further imagery to a similar effect is then shown, including a young boy on the beach saying, "We've got the sharks out of the pool," and partygoers watching fireworks on the Sydney harbour, who say "We've turned on the lights". The commercial ends with bikini-clad model Lara Bingle at Fingal Bay stepping out of the ocean and asking, "So where the bloody hell are you?" The campaign received extensive press coverage both in Australia and overseas, particularly after it was banned in the United Kingdom. It enjoyed a mixed reception, being praised for its provocativeness and memorability but also being criticised as inappropriate for a tourism campaign. It was pulled from the air in 2008.

Bans due to perceived controversial language The advertising campaign caused controversy in March 2007 when it was banned by the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre in the United Kingdom, which would not allow the word "bloody" in television versions of the commercial. Following lobbying by Tourism Australia, including a visit to the UK by Australia's tourism minister Fran Bailey and Lara Bingle, the ban was lifted, although a 9pm watershed was imposed on television commercials in May. In March 2007, the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK ordered the removal of roadside billboards bearing the slogan. The ASA stated that it had received 32 complaints and warned Tourism Australia to refrain from using profanity in future billboards. Tourism minister Fran Bailey responded:

What an absolutely, incredibly ludicrous stance and a greater example of double standards you'd never find. Everyone is shaking their heads, especially as it's in a country where they allow the FCUK billboards. ... I mean what is it about our campaign that they find offensive? I just don't understand it. The advertisement has also been banned by regulators in Canada, owing to the implication of "unbranded alcohol consumption" by the opening line, "We've poured you a beer". There was also concern in Canada at the word hell being used as an expletive. It has been allowed to run with no adverse action in countries such as the United States and New Zealand. In Singapore, the advertisement campaign is presented as "So Where Are You?", with the words bloody hell removed.

Parodies and influences Tony Blair, delivering a keynote speech during a visit to Canberra, said his first thought on arrival in Australia was "Where the bloody hell am I?" Australian comedy writer Dan Ilic produced and released a parody of the ad towards the end of March 2006. The parody uses the structure of the Tourism Australia ad to make satirical reference to current political controversies that might concern potential tourists. The parody was the subject of controversy when Ilic removed the ad from his company's website because Tourism Australia's lawyers had threatened legal action claiming the music "was infringing their copyright". According to Ilic, however, Downwind Media "commissioned [their] own song that is different in tune and tempo", As of 28 March 2006, four "new special edition versions" of the parody were made available for download. The Chaser's War on Everything released a similar version in their third episode with the slogan "So get your fucking arse over here!" to parody a perceived Australian propensity for vulgarity, and later took to the streets to see what tourists thought of similar campaigns which made extensive use of swearing. In New Zealand, the TVNZ series Facelift parodied Australia's treatment of turban-wearing people ("we've kicked out all the dirty towelheads") and Aboriginal people ("we've sent the cops up north to steal their grog and porn mags") ending with the question "so if you're not a wog or a chink or some other dirty towelhead, where the bloody hell are you?" The Coromandel region also released a parody with the words, "We're bloody well in the Coromandel." In the aftermath of the 2008 Summer Olympics, British tabloid newspaper The Sun advertised posters aimed at Australians and asking "Where the bloody hell were you?" in reference to the number of gold medals Great Britain won in comparison to Australia.

Ashes version An advertisement was produced to promote the Nine Network's television coverage of the 2006–07 Ashes series, in the style of this ad but on a cricketing theme (e.g., '"We've rolled the ground, we've put in the stumps"). The next sentence parodied the beer quote from the original ad but this time referencing the supposed English predilection for warm beer ("we've warmed up the beer"), then "we've hidden the sunscreen, and we've brought you some soap", and finally Australian captain Ricky Ponting descending the steps of a cricket ground stating, "And we've been waiting all year." This ad also culminates in a bikini-clad Bingle asking "So where the bloody hell are you?" on the Sydney Cricket Ground, holding a cricket bat and wearing nothing but a green and gold bikini, white shoes, and leg pads. A coda is then provided by Richie Benaud saying "Marvellous".

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with So where the bloody hell are you?

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what So where the bloody hell are you? claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to So where the bloody hell are you? before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about So where the bloody hell are you? ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of So where the bloody hell are you?

In research: So where the bloody hell are you? appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses So where the bloody hell are you? in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: So where the bloody hell are you? is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2006 in Australia, 2006 quotations, Advertising and marketing controversies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for So where the bloody hell are you? outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study So where the bloody hell are you? in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what So where the bloody hell are you? means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain So where the bloody hell are you? out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is So where the bloody hell are you? in simple terms?

Why does So where the bloody hell are you? matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study So where the bloody hell are you??

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on So where the bloody hell are you?.