Why Does The Lamb Ad Show a Bunnings Sausage Sizzle? Because "Being Generous is Being Australian"

Co-chief creative officer of Droga5 ANZ, part of Accenture Song, Damon Stapleton, and director Dave Wood from Good Oil share their insights into the making of the 2026 lamb ad, 'The Happiness List'.

This year's film saw Australia attempt to get back into the top 10 of the world's happiest countries by exhibiting reasons Aussies have to be happy, like beautiful beaches and free healthcare. 

Below, Damon and Dave share their creative process and what inspired them to make the choices they did with LBB's Lilya Murray.

LBB> What sparked the top 10 happiest countries list as a jumping off point, and when did you have to lock it in?

Damon> We had multiple ideas early on with some strong contenders. But this fact just kept popping up and every time it did it felt different and it felt right. With Australian Lamb you must get the architecture right before you get the details right because of how much can change in a year. Even with months to go, we felt this was right.

LBB> How difficult was it to narrow down location choices, such as the beach, to show off the whole country?

Dave> The creative team had written a stockpile of clever insights and gags centred around things that make us Aussies happy -- things that might seem a bit odd to a foreign “happiness auditor”. We really just let the best ideas and funniest insights bubble to the top. It was a case of best ideas win, then the logistics follow.

We needed some big, beautiful scale and nature -- glorious beaches and national park vibes for the platypus scene -- to balance against low-key charm in more trivial, domestic details, like suburban shops where you can wear your togs, or a backyard with a wheelie bin. So it was the script flow and the insights behind each scene that ultimately informed where the happiness auditors went.

LBB> What were some of the final shoot locations decided?

Dave> We had a lot of dialogue-based scenes to capture in just three days, including the all-important BBQ at the end, so efficiency was critical.

We used a section of the gym at Sydney Girls High School for KEK’s office and also shot the classroom and ambulance scenes there. The rest of the shoot involved hopping around the Northern Beaches and surrounding areas. Our crew worked fast and travelled light to keep the pace up and make the schedule achievable.

LBB> The lamb ad is always hotly anticipated, especially because it feels like it kicks off the year in advertising. How do you balance consistency and culture (and the speed at which it moves), and battle the pressure to top the last attempt every time?

Damon> Yep, there is a bit of pressure. You just have to replace that word with another word. Exciting. This is a brilliant brief that every creative wants to work on. And the trick with a brief like this is you keep working on it every day.

As I said earlier, you must get your architecture right by finding the right idea or subject early on. But then, it is months and months of polishing. More jokes and more ideas. Push this and change that. No secret. Just a lot of hard work from some very talented people.

LBB> Previous lamb ads such as last year’s ‘The Comments Section’ and 'Make Lamb, Not Walls' acted as social commentary on division. Was it a purposeful choice, in a climate of widespread division, to go for a 'softer' way in, while still building to the lamb = unity pay off?

Damon> I think the greatest trick is not to do the same magic trick. I guess this is social commentary about unity rather than division. And it is a comment about ‘Australianness’ rather than one pressing issue.

There was a feeling we needed to make something positive for Australia. Something that pulled us together. I think a lot of this is a gut-feel about how Australia is feeling at that moment.

LBB> What do you hope ‘The Happiness List’ achieves?

Damon> Well, I hope it makes us all laugh a lot. I think we need that now. I really hope it gets us back into the top 10 happiest countries so the list makes sense again. I hope it reminds us what a great country this is. And of course, I hope we sell a whole lot of lamb. The real taste of Australian happiness.

LBB> What was the most crucial production point to nail in order to achieve the desired effect?

Dave> For me, it was all about the characters -- which really comes down to pacing and tone. The humour and attitude had to come through the casting and performances.

There weren’t any big effects in this script, so we had to create scale and a sense of 'bigness' through the journey itself, relying on the characters’ words and performances to elevate the whole piece. Structurally, it felt right to start big and obvious -- the glorious beach and wildlife -- then, as things start to go a bit off track and the characters scramble to make their point, let the reins out and allow their pace and tone to do the heavy lifting.

We rehearsed with the actors prior to shooting so everyone knew exactly what level of passion, nonchalance, or delivery speed was required for each beat. At the monitor, the scenes were genuinely fun to watch and the temptation is always to linger and let things breathe, but we didn’t have time to indulge. Great actors make that much easier.

LBB> Are there any reasons for Australia's happiness that didn’t make the cut that you wish did?

Damon > Haha yeah, a couple. If I tell you the creatives had hundreds of ideas that didn’t make the cut, it wouldn’t be an understatement. And of course, there are a couple that pushed the envelope. But in the end, the creatives and the director had to make a thousand choices to create a great story and narrative. That is always the goal.

LBB> The reference to the Bunnings sausage sizzle feels so iconically Aussie, but also generous -- in a way, you're promoting a competitor meat. Talk to us about the nuance of building lamb's brand in particular versus the broader category.

Damon> Being generous is being Australian, therefore I think generosity of spirit is right for Australian Lamb as a brand. It goes beyond category. It’s like if you are Aussie, you are in. I think the lamb ads are so iconic they are part of Australian culture and reflect culture.

George Bernard Shaw said if you want to be funny, tell the truth. We might be selling lamb, but we also tell the truth. That’s why these ads connect every year. A Bunnings sausage sizzle, giant fruit monuments, and some well meaning winter Olympians are just a few reasons Australia should land in the world’s top ten for happiness. That's Australia and that's lamb. You can't have one without the other.

LBB> How was the decision made to use certain shots of archival footage?

Dave> The idea of 'downloading' Australia through a bite of a delicious lamb cutlet was always going to be fun to play with. The aim was to make this little 'meat dream' a playful reminder of the Aussie things that make us smile.

Our researcher helped track down all the elements and then our editor, Harrison Carr at ARC, went to work cutting the hell out of it. Hidden amongst the big icons -- Australia II, Steve Irwin, the Twelve Apostles, Bob Hawke, and First Nations artworks -- are delightfully random Aussie moments like the barking dog man, the Big Banana, milk arrowroot biscuits decorated with faces you’d see at kids’ parties, and Agro. It was fun to make something so condensed and precise with a slightly silly madness to it.

LBB> How was the painting of Sam Kekovich created?

Dave> In the treatment, I’d written an idea where Kek looks thoughtfully out of his office window in front of a painting of himself doing exactly the same thing. One of the creatives then suggested that in the next close-up there should be another painting on a different wall of Kek in close-up too.

We shot the picture frames with green screen and then used actual frames from the takes as the basis for the artwork, which we recreated and dropped back in during post.

There have been so many great lamb ads over the years, so getting the chance to shoot one is pretty special. Comedy can often be easier when you’re being mean, so making something positive and unifying is a really fun challenge.

And even though being patriotic can feel like a bit of a dirty word these days, I love that we made something with a genuine intention to show love and happiness for all things Aussie.