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121If you turned on a television at any time in the 1970s or 1980s, there was little chance you could avoid %u2018Life. Be in it.%u2019, a campaign encouraging Australians to get active. The infamous animated community service announcements featured Norm, the everyman who drank beer and sat on the couch %u2013 fourteen years before Homer Simpson appeared on our screens.The central theme was that any activity was good activity, whether you ran, cycled, threw a frisbee or simply got up to turn o%u00a0 the TV. Created in 1975 for the Victorian state government, the combination of a snappy idea and slogan by Phillip Adams and his advertising agency, eye-catching animation by Alex Stitt, and the ridiculously catchy jingle by Peter Best, was an instant hit. By 1975, it had been broadcast and embraced Australia-wide.By the end of the decade, Norm (voiced by Max Gillies) was more recognised than then prime minister, Malcolm Fraser, and the %u2018Life. Be in it.%u2019 brand had been extended to include events and merchandise, from hats to T-shirts and even tracksuits.Beyond raising awareness and enshrining %u2018Norm%u2019 as the go-to nickname for any beerbellied Australian, the campaign was successful in encouraging more Australians to be active. It may not have stopped everyone from sitting around eating Burger Rings and Fruit Tingles, but it is regarded as one of the most successful public health campaigns in Australian history.In the early 1980s, %u2018Life. Be in it.%u2019 lost its Commonwealth funding and became a not-forprofit organisation, which later went into liquidation. However, the brand still survives today as a private company.In 1981, Adams, Stitt and Best teamed up again for the equally iconic anti skin%u2013cancer campaign %u2018Slip, Slop, Slap%u2019.YEAR 1975DESIGNERS Phillip Adams, Alex Stitt and Peter BestBy the end of the decade, Norm (voiced by Max Gillies) was more recognised than then prime minister, Malcolm Fraser.

