Books and journals Case studies Expert Briefings Open Access
Advanced search

“He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich”: Advertising Australia’s national food in the United States, 1968-1988

Emily J.H. Contois (Department of American Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhodes Island, USA)

Journal of Historical Research in Marketing

ISSN: 1755-750X

Publication date: 15 August 2016

Abstract

Purpose

Through a case study of J. Walter Thompson and Kraft’s efforts to market Vegemite in the USA in the late 1960s, this paper aims to explore transnational systems of cultural production and consumption, the US’s changing perception of Australia and the influence of culture on whether advertising fails or succeeds.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws from archival primary sources, including advertisements and newspapers, as well as secondary literatures from the fields of advertising history, food studies and transnational studies of popular culture.

Findings

Although J. Walter Thompson’s advertising contributed to Vegemite’s icon status in Australia, it failed to capture the American market in the late 1960s. In the 1980s, however, Vegemite did capture American interest when it was central to a wave of Australian popular culture that included films, sport and music, particularly Men at Work’s hit song, “Down Under”, whose lyrics mentioned Vegemite. As such, Vegemite’s moment of success stateside occurred without a national advertising campaign. Even when popular, however, Americans failed to like Vegemite’s taste, confirming it as a uniquely culturally specific product.

Originality/value

This paper analyzes a little-studied advertising campaign. The case study’s interdisciplinary findings will be of interest to scholars of advertising history, twentieth century USA and Australian history and food studies.

Keywords

  • Advertising history
  • Food
  • Consumption history
  • Popular culture
  • Transnationalism
  • Vegemite

Acknowledgements

Heartfelt thanks go to Susan Smulyan, Robert Crawford and Jackie Dickenson for their kind and helpful feedback on this project from the start and for the opportunity to be involved with Globalizing the Magic System: A History of Advertising Industry Practices in Australia 1959-1989; to John Eng-Wong for inviting the author to present these findings at the Food Heritage, Hybridity and Locality Conference, held at Brown University in October 2014; and to Roger Hawkins for suggesting that the author consider researching Vegemite.

Citation

Contois, E.J.H. (2016), "“He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich”: Advertising Australia’s national food in the United States, 1968-1988", Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 343-357. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHRM-06-2015-0019

Download as .RIS

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Please note you do not have access to teaching notes

You may be able to access teaching notes by logging in via Shibboleth, Open Athens or with your Emerald account.
Login
If you think you should have access to this content, click the button to contact our support team.
Contact us

To read the full version of this content please select one of the options below

You may be able to access this content by logging in via Shibboleth, Open Athens or with your Emerald account.
Login
To rent this content from Deepdyve, please click the button.
Rent from Deepdyve
If you think you should have access to this content, click the button to contact our support team.
Contact us
Emerald Publishing
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
© 2021 Emerald Publishing Limited

Services

  • Authors Opens in new window
  • Editors Opens in new window
  • Librarians Opens in new window
  • Researchers Opens in new window
  • Reviewers Opens in new window

About

  • About Emerald Opens in new window
  • Working for Emerald Opens in new window
  • Contact us Opens in new window
  • Publication sitemap

Policies and information

  • Privacy notice
  • Site policies
  • Modern Slavery Act Opens in new window
  • Chair of Trustees governance statement Opens in new window
  • COVID-19 policy Opens in new window
Manage cookies

We’re listening — tell us what you think

  • Something didn’t work…

    Report bugs here

  • All feedback is valuable

    Please share your general feedback

  • Member of Emerald Engage?

    You can join in the discussion by joining the community or logging in here.
    You can also find out more about Emerald Engage.

Join us on our journey

  • Platform update page

    Visit emeraldpublishing.com/platformupdate to discover the latest news and updates

  • Questions & More Information

    Answers to the most commonly asked questions here