Discovery Parks and Resorts Responds to Priscilla Backlash
Image: Image: Kane Chenoweth / Tourism NT
The company behind a Northern Territory promotion featuring international Drag Race stars has responded to criticism.
Discovery Parks and Resorts came under fire last week by many for their lack of Australian talent in a promotion for the anniversary of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert.
“You’ve completely disrespected our Drag Community”
To mark the thirty year anniversary of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, Discovery Parks and Resorts in the Northern Territory launched a campaign celebrate the iconic film.
In an effort to try and invigorate audiences and promote the landmark used in the film, Kings Canyon, thhe site was temporarily renamed to “Queens Canyon.”
To assist in the promotion the organisation flew in some iconic stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race from the US and the UK.
The campaign features American queens Utica and Joey Jay, joined by UK Drag Race stars Ginny Lemon and Sister Sister as they ascended the iconic location and travel along “Priscilla’s Crack” adorned in their best drag.
But not everyone was happy about the campaign.
The social media pages for Discovery Parks and Resorts were flooded with comments from those unhappy with the lack of local talent in the campaign.
“With all the incredible artists you could have picked from in Australia, you’ve completely disrespected our Drag Community with this bad choice of talent. No diversity in the cast” wrote drag performer Philma Bocks.
“No representation of Indigenous culture either, this is their country and the message you’re sending out is far from the home ground of what Priscilla stands for” they continued. “The UK Drag scene has nothing to do with a film about Australian Drag, they have no place representing.”
Discovery Parks and Resorts responds to criticism
After over one hundred comments on the Facebook page sharing images from the campaign the company behind the decision responded to the backlash.
“We acknowledge the feedback we’ve received about the campaign and representation of the Australian drag community. First and foremost, we apologise for any offence it has caused – this was absolutely not our intention” they wrote.
“The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert is an iconic film with global appeal and recognition. As such, we were excited to have the opportunity to partner with Tourism NT on this campaign, which forms part of their global marketing efforts that specifically target UK and US audiences” they continued, emphasising their intention to reach a wider audience internationally.
“The Drag Race queens featured in the Kings Canyon shoot were in Australia using their own social channels to promote the fabALICE festival and the Red Centre to their large international followings, rather than Australian audiences” they explained.
“We are a proud supporter of the Northern Territory’s drag community through our sponsorship of the recent fabALICE Festival, which featured many incredible Australian drag talents, including local NT First Nations drag queen Miss Ellaneous and NT drag queen Marzi Panne, both of whom hosted this year’s festival.”
“We look forward to building on our relationship with drag communities, both locally and internationally, in the future.”
