Waltzing Matilda - Brand Marketing for Billy Tea

Australia's National Song Was One of the First Advertising Gimmicks

Feb 5, 2009

Australia's national song, Waltzing Matilda, was deployed by the makers of Billy Tea as a jingle, a neat piece of brand marketing. The lyrics were subtly altered to suit.

Australia’s national song, Waltzing Matilda (or Waltzing Mathilda as it is often erroneously spelled) was written in April 1895 by famous Australian poet, Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’ Paterson. Strangely, the version he wrote is not quite the same as the song popularly sung today. The re-writing and corruption of the original was a deliberate marketing ploy for popular tea brand, Billy Tea.

The Origin of Waltzing Matilda

There is no controversy about the authorship of Waltzing Matilda. It is well documented that Banjo Paterson penned the verse while holidaying at Dagworth Station, near Winton in Queensland. He based the lyrics loosely on events that happened during a shearers’ strike that turned to violence at Dagworth Station.

What is not so well known, however, is that the words that Aussies sing so lustily today are a variation of Paterson’s original verses. That variation was a deliberate (and successful) attempt to enhance Waltzing Matilda, so that it became an even more useful advertisement for Billy Tea. It amounted to clever marketing.

The Involvement of James Inglis and the Billy Tea Company

Scotsman, James Inglis, started his India tea company in Australia in 1881 with the now iconic trademark, ‘Billy Tea’,decorating the packet with the line drawing of a swagman sitting beside his fire, boiling the billy.

When Inglis discovered that ‘Banjo’ Paterson has sold his poem ‘Waltzing Matilda’, along with other rather mundane materials, to publishers, Angus and Robertson, he seized the opportunity and bought the rights in 1902.

Inglis intended to give away a piece of sheet music as a promotional ‘freebie’ with every packet of tea sold. As many homes had a piano, and sing-alongs were the popular form of home entertainment of the day, his idea was not as crazy as it might now sound. It was an excellent marketing ploy.

Marie Cowan, the wife of one of the Inglis company directors, an amateur pianist and excellent singer, was employed to set the poem to music. It is hardly fair to suggest that she composed the music, as it bears noticeable similarities to the tune Craigielee, which Sarah MacPherson first used with the original words.

How a Clever Brand Marketing Created a National Song

It was the perfect marketing strategy for an Australian public just beginning to feel a sense of national pride and identity. The swaggie was on the packet, and an advertisement for Billy Tea (with the famous illustration), was on the back cover of every double leaf of sheet music. Soon everyone was singing what was, in effect, an advertising jingle.

Paterson’s first verse contains the line: ‘And he sang as he looked at the old billy boiling.”

Cowan rendered this: “And he sang as he watched and waited till his ‘Billy’ boiled,’ which effectively allows the construction that Billy tea is being boiled, which is not possible with the original line.

Changes to the Chorus

Paterson’s rather nice line, repeated every chorus, about the swaggie ‘leading a waterbag’ was then changed to repeat the newly-created phrase, ‘waited till his ‘billy’ boiled’, a wonderful repetition of the company name! Today we have a name for it - brand marketing.

The original opening line of the song ‘Oh there once was a swagman’ was changed to ‘Once a jolly swagman’. It is possible that Cowan merely considered this to be better metrically, but it is interesting to note that ‘jolly’ (rather Santa Claus-like for a hobo) might suggest the value of ‘the cup that cheers’.

Changes to the Final Verse

The final verse of Cowan’s version also leaves us with a markedly different message from Paterson’s original. Paterson reinforces the man’s futile death:

‘Up sprang the swagman and jumped into the waterhole/Drowning himself by the coolibah tree.’

Australia’s National Song

With a little skilful brand marketing, the Billy Tea Company, in declaring itself ‘Australia’s National Drink’, helped to raise Waltzing Matilda to the status of Australia’s national song. So deep was the country’s love for this song, that it was one of the offerings for 1977 plebiscite for an official national anthem.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Handbook records that it received 28% of the vote, coming second to Advance Australia Fair, which polled 43%, and well ahead of God Save the Queen, which drew 18%.

Of course, the government was politic in deciding that God Save the Queen would remain the anthem to be played at Regal and Vice Regal occasions, rather than a Billy Tea advertising gimmick.

The copyright of the article Waltzing Matilda - Brand Marketing for Billy Tea in Australian History is owned by James Parsons. Permission to republish Waltzing Matilda - Brand Marketing for Billy Tea in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.