The UK’s Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre’s (BACC) preliminary decision to ban the term ‘bloody’ in Tourism Australia’s (TA) new advertising campaign on UK television – to be launched this month – has delivered a massive PR boost to Australia, according to TA’s managing director Scott Morrison.

The BACC’s decision only relates to commercial television – online and print sources will run using the ‘uncut’ version.

According to TA, as the decision is based on a narrow interpretation of six-year-old guidelines, they hope that the BACC will reconsider its decision – as it is within its jurisdiction to do so – citing the broad usage of the phrase in UK broadcasting, film and literature.

Morrison said: “The campaign was designed to get people talking, and we estimate that more than 100,000 people in the UK have already viewed the advert online. We thank the UK authorities for the free publicity.” Details: www.tourism.australia.com