By Oisin Sweeney • Published: 05 Jan 2021 • 9:18
The Australian advertisement has been viewed 250k times on YouTube - Image Source: Boating Camping Fishing
AUSTRALIA’S advertising watchdog is investigating a viral advertisement video of a man eating a bat sandwich in reference to the pandemic outbreak in Wuhan.
The advertisement, released by the Boating Camping Fishing store (BCF), has been viewed over 250,000 times on YouTube. It depicts a man eating a bat sandwich, who jokes that the Covid-19 pandemic was triggered by the consumption of bats in Wuhan, China.
No definitive proof has yet emerged of the origin of the coronavirus, though early cases of the outbreak have been linked to an animal wet market in the Chinese city. The video is currently under investigation by Australia’s Advertising Standards Bureau watchdog.
“Ad Standards has received a number of complaints about the BCF summer campaign commercial and is in the process of assessing these complaints to see if they raise an issue,” a spokesman told the BBC.
“Over the years BCF has established a tradition of irreverent campaigns in the spirit of good-natured fun,” a company spokesperson told Australian media “They will have their detractors and we recognise that.”
“Of course we understand the severity of the pandemic and spread of Covid-19 but it is clear that this ad is framed in the same spirit.”
In 2016 and 2018, BCF produced advertisements that drew the most complaints investigated by Australia’s watchdog.
Share this story
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don't already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Oisin is an Irish writer based in Seville, the sunny capital of Andalucia. After starting his working life as a bookseller, he moved into journalism and cut his teeth as a reporter at one of Ireland's biggest news websites. Since joining Euro Weekly News in November, he has enjoyed covering the latest stories from Seville, Spain and further afield - with special interests in crime, cybersecurity, and European politics. Anyone who can pronounce his name first try gets a free cerveza...
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Download our media pack in either English or Spanish.