Why is it 'shrimp on the barbie', not 'prawns on the barbie?'
How the Australian Tourism Commission's TV campaign became a key part of the everyday American understanding of Australia.
Americans understand a few things about Australia from afar, the fascinating wildlife, the infatuation with Steve Irwin, and some sort of concept about ‘shrimp on the barbie’.
When I filled in people back home on my week with Eloise’s hospitable family right outside of Sydney, Australia, including hiking up ladders, swimming in the clear waters, tanning in the spicy sun, saying “I didn’t know the Earth could look like this” at least a few times a day, and our Saturday night cookout, I was met so many times with “will they put shrimp on the barbie’?”
If we know anything about colloquialisms between us and our fellow English-speaking neighbors, we know that only we’d call it shrimp… and they’d call it prawns. So how did this saying come to be?
Australian Tourism began with ‘America, You Need a Holiday’
In the 1980’s, Paul Hogan teamed up with Australian advertising agency Mojo— Alan Morris ("Mo") and Allan Johnston ("Jo") to launch Australia’s first formal effort at tourism advertising.
The problem in the 80’s was that most countries were vying for Americans to pack their suitcases and explore their country. Australia has the balmy beaches, rugged forests, koalas and kangaroos… but every other country was showing off these very features to the point of meaninglessness, and people weren’t going to travel to just see animals they could see in a zoo.
Instead of stock-images, they decided to lean into the friendliness and relaxed air of the people. To quote Paul Hogan’s memoir, “ The best thing about Australia are the Australians…What if you go to a beautiful place and discover everyone there is an arsehole?”
The Cabinet of Tourism Australia had an issue with the pitch. They didn’t think Americans would understand Paul Hogan. The Australian prime minister at the time, Bob Hawke, overrode the dubious cabinet. He didn’t see an issue with Hogan’s “bloody accent”, and permitted him to represent Australia on the American televisions. The compromise? Replacing ‘prawns’ with ‘shrimp’ so Americans would know what he’s bloody saying.
Australia went from #28 to #1 most desired destination for American tourists in just a few months after its launch in 1984.
See the full version at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
So, what are we actually throwing on the barbie in Australia?
Now that we know shrimps are prawns and Paul Hogan redefined American’s understandings of an entire country, what did we actually eat?
Eloise and her hospitable family hosted a backyard dinner which included the Australian-style burger. We feasted on beef patties with buttered buns, white cheddar, beetroot, egg, grilled pineapple, lettuce and tomato.
If you look closely, yes we did put shrimp prawns on the barbie due to leftovers from a recent taco-making attempt. We finished the evening off with a traditional homemade Pavlova cake topped with heaps of summer berries from Eloise’s mum, Vicki.
You can guess what topic dominated dinner as the prawns were served.
We’ve debunked the ‘shrimp on the barbie’ saying and, if I may speak for myself, developed a preference for pineapple, beetroot, and egg on my burger.
Such a fun cultural anecdote and I loved reading your take on it! Finding that book in the street library was such a magical coincidence too 🦐
Yes yes yes. More of this, fun & informative read!