MoJo loses its Mo
A very sad day for Oz advertising today with the passing of Alan Morris, a true original.
The man who put the Mo in MoJo finally lost his year long battle with cancer.
Whilst the agency he founded still bears his name, his lasting legacy is in a string of iconic ads that have become part of our national psyche.
Just look at this list of Oz ad classics:
I can feel a Fourex coming on; Hit ‘em with the old Pea Beau; Throw another shrimp on the barbie; I still call Australia home; You oughta be congratulated.
And, of course, the timeless C’mon Aussie C’mon. A tune that transcended its advertising origins and went on to be sung by all and sundry at the funeral of Kerry Packer.
Ever the creative director, Mo spent the last few weeks organising his own funeral.
A date has not been set as yet, but I imagine the beer and song will flow long into the night when they lay him to rest.
posted by Stan Lee at 2:55 pm
4 Comments:
Funny how those "crap jingles" as we used to call them have gone on to become part of the language.
Mo and Jo knew advertising but they knew Australia better.
A lesson still lost on members of the advertising industry, the majority of which are wankers.
I once heard Ted Horton tell a great story about working for MoJo back during "the six weeks or so when I was a Hot Young Thing" (his words).
Apparently he'd just come back from a long lunch to celebrate winning an award when he was called into Jo's office.
Jo had apparently had an even longer lunch, and said something to him along the lines of:
"You and your clever dick mates can sit around in a circle jerking each other off for as long as you want but, out there in the suburbs, your mum and dad are singing my jingles"
I've heard Ted tell that story too.
And I've been retelling it in the years since.
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