General Motors Holden: Football, Meat Pies, Kangaroos and Holden Cars

This memorable advertising jingle from the 1970s was adapted from the American Chevrolet campaign, 'baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet’. To match the Australian lyrics, the advertisement features Australian cultural icons (the kangaroo, koala and meat pie) in a montage of quick shots. Although many of the icons flash by quickly, shots of Holdens driving and parked in a variety of locations are held longer so that, even without the explanatory jingle and voice-over, the images make clear that this is an ad for cars and not an Australian tourism campaign.

In addition, the ad depicts a laid-back and fun-loving Australia and the jingle aims to appeal to the audience’s sense of patriotism. If you don’t love football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars, you’re not truly Australian. Although targeting the mainstream, the ad actually describes one specific social sector and does not reflect the diversity of the nation at the time. Holden’s association with white working class Australia is particularly strong in ads like this featuring models such as the Kingswood, the Torana and the Monaro.