Abstract

European Australians have historically stood on the coast facing the sea from whence they came with their backs to the desert interior. The more uncertain Australia's economic and cultural position appears in the world, the more Australians have tended to look over their shoulder towards the centre of the continent for images of reassurance.

Over the last few decades, Australia's advertising agencies have led the way into the outback in search of icons of nationalism and symbols of hope. The most famous of these outback icons is called Ayers Rock by non-Aboriginal Australians, and Uluru by Anangu, the Aboriginal inhabitants of central Australia.

This thesis analyses, from a cultural studies approach, how Uluru/Ayers Rock has been developed from an image of a remote desert landmark into an internationally recognised tourist and advertising icon of Australia. The aim of this thesis is to critically analyse how non-Aboriginal Australia has appropriated and exploited Ayers Rock/Uluru for both commercial and cultural profit.

Images of Uluru/Ayers Rock have served many commercial interests including such multinational corporations as Pall Mall, Coca Cola, McDonalds, Ford and Nissan. Products linked to images of Ayers Rock range from a packet of cough drops to the 1988 Australian Bicentenary. Case studies (including tourist photographs, souvenirs and advertisements) from 1873 to 1993 are used to examine the ways in which the Rock has been invested with a variety of meanings. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to critically analyse political, cultural and economic appropriations of a national landmark, that is also an Aboriginal sacred site, for commercial ends.

The major areas of analysis involve the construction of Ayers Rock as the red heart of Australia; the politics of naming; the portrayal of Anangu in advertising and tourist promotions; practices of photographing the rock; myths of pilgrimage, climbing or entering New Age rituals.
The power of the advertising image, this thesis argues, contributes to the shaping of attitudes within society towards both Uluru/Ayers Rock and Anangu.

Lastly, this thesis explores some of the implications for any future regulation policy concerning advertising images of Uluru/Ayers Rock.

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