There was an eerie familiarity to the WA government’s $15 million ‘Walking on a Dream’ tourism campaign that launched on Tuesday.

‘The Ad Man’ contacted the John Hughes Rumour File to say the local advertising industry is abuzz with criticism for the new campaign.

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“There’s always bitching from the creatives who missed out on the gig who claim they coulda, shoulda, woulda done it differently if they had won the tender,” he said.

But many have pointed out the similarities between the Tourism WA campaign created by the Brand Agency and the launch for the re-brand of Karrinyup Shopping Centre last year (see ads below), from creative agency Block Branding.

The 60-second hero advertisement to lure tourists west features two WA-born Aboriginal dancers, Rika Hamaguchi and Ian Wilkes and a recreated hit song from global superstars Empire Of The Sun, led by WA-raised frontman Luke Steele. The mystical elements to the ad are similar, as are scenes of two good looking dancers making their way through iconic destinations across our state.