Rudd told to lay off abusing Lara Bingle ad campaign
26 Jun 2008, 1627 Hrs

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Melbourne, June 26 (ANI): Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been told to back off as far his comments relating to the Lara Bingle "where the bloody hell are you" tourism ads.

Liberal MP Scott Morrison, the man behind the ad, said Rudd's description of the ad as a "rolled gold disaster" is unwarranted, and that he had no business to term it a flop.

Rudd also said that the campaign, featuring Sydney model and Test cricketer Michael Clarke's fiancee Lara Bingle, had failed to benefit the Australian tourism industry.

According to news.com.au, Rudd said the now-ended campaign was under review because the number of tourists from Japan, Germany and Britain, where the campaign was focused, had fallen.

Morrison, the former director of Tourism Australia, however, said the aim had been to increase tourism spending, not numbers.

He claimed that tourism spending had increased by 4.2 billion dollars since the campaign launch in 2006.

The now-ended campaign included television commercials in which bikini-clad model Lara Bingle uttered the "Where the bloody hell are you?" slogan, which was banned or withdrawn in some nations. (ANI)