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Star chefs put it all on the plate in new tv push to get vaccinated

Emma Breheny
Emma Breheny

Hospitality heavyweights, including Maurice Terzini have thrown their weight behind a campaign encouraging the public to get vaccinated.
Hospitality heavyweights, including Maurice Terzini have thrown their weight behind a campaign encouraging the public to get vaccinated.Ben Shirley

Hospitality heavyweights have thrown their support behind a publicity campaign encouraging the public to get vaccinated and move Australia beyond the waves of lockdowns that are hurting their industry.

Put a Jab on the Menu, launching today, contains a simple message for those who love restaurants and miss dining out.

"If you're as hungry as we are to get back in the kitchen, put a jab on your menu," the ad urges, after showing scenes of eerily empty restaurants, including Sydney icon Icebergs Dining Room.

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With Australia's vaccine rollout taking many months to gain momentum, a direct line has been drawn between low vaccination rates and this winter's lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne. Some industry leaders have even been lobbying for hospitality staff, who are predominantly younger, to be given priority access to vaccines in the same way as other public-facing industries.

Put a Jab on the Menu was designed by ad man David Nobay and is supported by high-profile chefs such as Guillaume Brahimi, Neil Perry, Danielle Alvarez and Frank Camorra, as well as the next generation of leaders including Melbourne's Shannon Martinez (Smith & Daughters, Lona Misa) and Sydney's Anna Ugarte-Carral (The Old Fitz).

The 60-second TV commercial shows the cut and thrust of a busy kitchen in service, with sizzles, splashes and clattering pots heard as industry leaders talk about the importance of restaurants in their lives. The second half of the ad – shots of empty tables and chairs stacked up in silent dining rooms – is almost a postcard from a city stripped of its venues. A voice is heard saying, "Right now, for us, it's as bad as it gets."

"Every person who works in hospitality does it because they want to bring happiness to people by service or food," said campaign ambassador Guilllaume Brahimi in a statement. "But, regardless of our shared passion, there's one thing that we can't overcome, and that's empty tables."

Nobay created the campaign pro-bono after seeing the devastating effect that lengthy and repeated lockdowns were having on his family and friends who work in the hospitality industry. It's estimated that cafes, bars and restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney lose $428 million every week during a lockdown.

The campaign includes commercials on TV networks including SBS, Foxtel and Nine (the owner of this masthead), as well as print, radio and online advertising.

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Emma BrehenyEmma BrehenyEmma is Good Food's Melbourne-based reporter and co-editor of The Age Good Food Guide 2024.

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