The new Baz Luhrmann-directed Australia tourism ads (one above, another here) might not connect too well with an American audience. Having a naked preteen dump silt all over you in bed comes with a prison sentence here in the U.S. Still, the campaign can't do any worse than the much-panned "Where the bloody hell are you?" effort. It should get lots of press, too, as it's tied in obliquely to Luhrmann's upcoming blockbuster film Australia (here's the trailer), in which an uptight tourist played by Nicole Kidman is charmed into going native by Hugh Jackman. The ads don't feature footage from the movie, but they do relate the same kind of transformative experience that Kidman's character goes through. Given the nature of these ads, the movie looks more like a benign version of The Ring. Either way, it can't be worse than Romeo + Juliet was.

—Posted by David Kiefaber