The third phase of Meat & Livestock Australia’s latest 'Throw Another Steak on the Barbie' campaign was launched last week with an on-line ad which parodies Paul Hogan's famous Tourism Australia ad from the 1980s.

The summer barbecue campaign, which launched early last month, was designed to leverage the popular international association between the ‘Throw another shrimp on the barbie’ line and Australia, made famous by comedian, Paul Hogan’s iconic Tourism Australia ad aired 30 years ago.

MLA, in its summer beef push, recruited comedian Merrick Watts to front a campaign which asked Australians to petition for a change.

The third phase, a ‘re-make’ of the original ad, was contingent upon getting 50,000 signatures on an on-line petition, which triggered the launch of the on-line video.

The video is MLA’s attempt to ‘set the record straight’ with a version of the infamous ad which features beef, rather than shrimp.

MLA group marketing manager Andrew Cox said Merrick Watts had been lobbying Australians to get behind his crusade. For those people who have been following the campaign, the video will be a pay-off for them.

“It’s a little piece of off-beat content, and is not meant to be a faithful reproduction of the original Tourism Australia ad,” Mr Cox said.

The third video had been in the planning stage before the campaign launch, however it did not go into production until it looked likely that the petition would reach its goal, which took only a short time.

MLA’s ‘Nothing beats beef’ Facebook page has doubled the number of ‘likes’ within weeks while its engagement rate reached an impressive 135 percent, among the highest for a brand in the Australia Pacific region.

“In the old days, it was about a simple message. On-line can direct people to further engage with your communications and be inspired to direct response. Facebook and YouTube are now delivering on reach and allows advertisers to be more portable,” Mr Cox said.