Indian movies, brand Australia and the marketing of Australian cosmopolitanism

Abstract

Indian movies shot overseas have attracted the attention of not only advertising agencies keen to see their clients’ brands appearing on-screen, but also government tourism commissions eyeing India’s growing middle classes as potential visitors. Australian federal and state governments offer Indian film producers financial incentives to film in Australia, and Australian cities now regularly supply Indian movies with backdrops of upmarket shopping malls, stylish apartments and exclusive restaurants. Yet in helping to project the lifestyle fantasies of India’s new middle classes, Australian government agencies are supporting an Indian view of Australia. While this image may attract Indian tourists to Australia, it presumes Australia is culturally White and British, and as a result Australian agencies market an Australian cosmopolitanism defined not in terms of cultural diversity but in terms of the availability of global brands. The absence of cultural diversity in how Australia is branded in Indian movies is at heart a political rather than a marketing issue and one that can be challenged effectively only by holding to account those who are politically responsible for branding the nation.