Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) has a habit of releasing Summer Lamb campaigns that feel bigger than the product. The 2025 instalment, “The Comments Section”, targets a modern irritant: how online threads turn everyday topics into fights. Its punchline, “get out of the comments and into the cutlets”, nudges people away from keyboard combat and towards a shared meal.

The craft sits in the sourcing. MLA and Droga5 ANZ built the script from “100% real Aussie comments” collected across platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Facebook and YouTube, then staged those lines in real-world scenes until the bickering looked as odd as it often is. For brands advertising into Sydney, that authenticity is a useful case study.

Listening, with evidence

Marketers love to say they “listen” to their communities. This campaign shows a version of listening you can point to. When the audience hears familiar phrasing and petty obsessions, the ad gains an extra layer of credibility. D&AD’s write-up describes the film as a mirror held up to online behaviour, contrasting the venom of comment sections with a warmer reality around a lamb barbecue.

A practical takeaway: insight travels further when it is grounded in what people already say, not what a brand wishes they said. That does not mean copying memes and hoping for the best. It means collecting patterns, selecting what fits the brand, and shaping it into a story.

Humour that targets behaviour, not identity

Comedy sells in Australia, but it can also backfire. “The Comments Section” avoids lecturing by making the performance of outrage the butt of the joke, not any one demographic. Campaign Brief framed the idea as “skewering the online comments dividing our nation”, with the underlying point that we are kinder face to face than we are behind screens.

That choice is strategic. It leaves room for viewers to laugh at themselves without feeling accused. In a city like Sydney, where people carry different politics, backgrounds and family histories into the same train carriage, broad humour can be a safer bridge than a slogan about unity.

A recurring character as a brand anchor

Sam Kekovich returns as the “Lambassador” to land the message. MLA’s campaign page puts his line front and centre, and coverage repeatedly notes the closing appeal to step away from the comments and eat.

Consistency like this matters because it reduces the cost of attention. The audience does not need to learn a new voice each year. The campaign can tackle a fresh cultural topic while still feeling like “that lamb ad”, which is rare for any category trying to stay in public conversation.

Media placement is part of the creative

The rollout reflects how campaigns work now. Campaign Brief reported the film premiered in the evening news on Seven and Nine, then expanded across BVOD, SVOD, YouTube, cinema, paid social and out-of-home, with UM handling media. That mix suits Sydney’s fragmented viewing habits: broadcast in the lounge room, streaming on the phone, and short clips in the commute scroll.

This is where tv advertising still earns its spot. A strong broadcast placement can turn an ad into a shared reference point, not just another targeted clip. Digital extensions then keep it circulating, with formats that match how people actually watch and share.

What the campaign is really selling

MLA’s own statement positions lamb as “the protein that brings Aussies together”, using the summer barbecue as a social equaliser. The ad’s tactic is to stop chasing agreement on every issue and lean into a ritual most people understand: eating together.

For marketers, this is the deeper lesson. Brands rarely win by trying to referee public arguments. They do better when they offer something practical that pulls people into real-world connection. Food works because it is physical and communal, and it carries emotional memory.

Also Read: The Impact of AI in TV Advertising 2026 – What You Need to Know

Applying the lessons in TV Advertising in Sydney

  • Start with the conversations people are already having, then choose your battles.
  • The MLA film draws from “divisive topics of the year” but keeps the stakes low enough to stay playful.
  • Other categories can borrow the technique by focusing on everyday tensions, the kind people in Sydney debate at work, in group chats, and at weekend gatherings.
  • Build a voice you can defend. If your brand can’t speak with that kind of clarity, it will struggle to cut through Sydney’s cluttered media market.
  • Plan for shareability, but don’t beg. The “real comments” hook gives audiences and journalists something concrete to talk about, which helps the campaign travel beyond paid placements.
  • Treat media strategy as a creative decision. In Sydney, message, moment and placement are inseparable. A capable tv advertising agency can add value by matching the story to the right programs, platforms and frequencies, and by measuring what actually shifts brand recall and purchase intent.

The uncomfortable truth is that the comments section is popular because it is entertaining, and because many of us linger there longer than we should. MLA’s Summer Lamb ad doesn’t scold. It makes the behaviour look strange in daylight, then offers an easy alternative: step away, put food on, and talk to real people.