Rhonda flies into Bali and becomes romantically entangled with cabana boy Ketut.
In an ‘AAMI’ car insurance series of ads on Australian television the main character Rhonda saves so much money using AAMI insurance that she is able to afford holidays in the tropical island paradise of Bali, and meet the colourful locals.
In the first of the three videos Rhonda is serviced by a foot masseuse on Kuta beach or thereabouts, who in real life is shockingly not a foot masseuse on Kuta beach, but rumour has it an employee at the Indonesian consulate in the city of Melbourne.
“Rhonda is mine”
In the second video we and Rhonda meet the strappingly handsome example of Balinese manhood Ketut, played by Kadek Marhardika, another happy denizen of the very good and charming in its way city of Melbourne.
“You look so hot today Rhonda. Like a sunrise.”
Finally, Rhonda returns home, with longing memories of Ketut:
“Kiss me Ketut”
The very popular as these things go ad series has generated a 110k Likes Facebook page entitled
The sexual tension between Katut and Rhonda
a thriving t-shirt industry in Bali, a “Rhonda and Ketut: The Musical” parody, and some agonising over the “subtext” of the videos, and issues of the “sexuality and representations of Asian men”.
Ketut has also made an appearance with Dennis Cometti in a football related AAMI ad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZosVnZ3__s
Gruen Planet, an ABC program about advertising, has looked at the whole AAMI campaign angle.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruenplanet/pages/s3583424.htm
Guys, it’s great if Rhonda can get her rocks off, jeez none of us are gonna do the job.
The commercials were filmed in Melbourne.
Guys, if Rhonda can go to Bali and get totally ploughed, good for her, and better for all of us. Don’t get me wrong on the other site. I’m all for women like Rhonda getting ploughed, preferably by strapping young exotic men. I just don’t wanna have to do the job myself or get judged for not doing it.
I reckon AAMI’s add on TV promotes sexual tourism in third world countries like Bali. I liked Rhonda better when she was just exploiting a local on the beach for a foot massage. If that was gender reversed and it was a middle aged bloke we would have all heard about it by now and the add would have been pulled. Poor Ketut, I feel for you mate.
You know what they’ve got in downtown Kuta now? They’ve got all these tee shirts with Rhonda catchphrases on them – “You’re naughty Ketut”, “I know you – you Rhonda!” etc…
Thing’s a bloody phenomenon!
Timdog.
You are in Kuta for Schoolies week…Mmmm I had always thought you were beyond that
Ah come now oigal, never too old for a bit of Schoolies fun…
Actually, it only dawned on me after I arrived yesterday that I had wandered into the midst of that. The horrific weather, the mind-numbing traffic (jesus, at least they’ve started doing something about the Dewa Ruci intersection, but between that and the ongoing airport work, there’s a constant pall of dust over the whole place), and ten-billion foul-mouthed, near-naked Australian children. It’s a little too much for a village boy from Cornwall.
I had to be down this end for some stuff today, but I am fleeing to greener quarters tomorrow – you know: the bit where everyone floats around in white linen and beads talking about art.
timdog
“It’s a little too much for a village boy from Cornwall.”
It’s a little too much for anybody. I’m moving out to big skies and empty spaces, at least for now.
Big skies and empty spaces are good, very good indeed, Mr ET. NO all you need is a good, educated, feminist Western woman your own age to share them with, isn’t that so? 😉
:-)… Can say that I blame you Timdog although if you are heading where I think you are heading sounds like just a different level of Dante’s hell.
One of the local oz papers this week had quite a write up and a video of the feral kids and Kuta (the Australian or the Age paper I forget which). Oh my, what a spoilt nation of barely literate brats we have become.
Makes one reconsider ever going home.
Oh well, you know what they say:-
“A ship of fools makes for a great business opportunity”
Do the ads suggest only frumpy western women find Asian men attractive?
Since Ketut’s not exactly a specimen of what, to my knowledge, Indonesian women find irresistibly attractive either, I don’t think that’s true. The only people who thinks so probably don’t know a lot of Asian men. For me, Rhonda and Ketut’s casting and comedic timing succeeded in selling the idea of “holiday romance” rather than “sex tourism” in the ad. Related to the “Roger & Ayu” hypothetical scenario mentioned above, if “Ayu” had been a slightly younger Merthi rather than a woman with top model looks and young enough to be “Roger”‘s daughter, people’s minds probably wouldn’t automatically jump to exploitation either.
This is a dumb commercial, ketut is a fat man looks like an indian from bangladesh. But then balinese and indonesians are mostly have indian ancestors anyway that is why they are hindu.
The beach is Beaumaris in Melbourne.
The masseuse is a retired lady who does aquarobics.
Rhonda moonlights as Kerry Packer’s secretary.
Ketut is a forklift driver and has become quite the celebrity. he keeps popping up in my friend’s facebook photos. Apparently he gets mobbed everywhere he goes.
I did not think the lady in the car that gets hit by watermelons was the same lady. She looks older and her voice is not the same. I heard it was being pulled from the tv but not sure
is she rhonda byrne the author og “the secret”?
So ketut is Balinese but he says I love you in Indonesian!!???
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Yeah, this isn’t a bad solution, either. I said Africa in my post, but left out all the fine work done by the Bali beach boys. Rhonda’s happy, Ketut gets to send his take of the Aussie insurance payments back to his wife and kids in the village. Everyone’s a winner.