"Yep, it's very good exposure for us."
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That's the understated view of Will Bleeker, owner of the Robertson Pie Shop, regarding the Subaru advertisement that's been playing on televisions all around Australia this summer.
The ad follows a number of families as they traverse countryside that will be familiar to many Highlanders, all ending up at the fabled pie shop - with the store's banner front and centre of the screen.
A car also turns the corner of Hoddle and Caalong Streets, giving viewers a peek at Pizzas in the Mist.
While Mr Bleeker and his wife Jenny haven't yet managed to catch it on the small screen, they were excited to receive a video of the ad from the production company that made it.
He said the part of the ad featuring the pie shop was filmed quickly over one evening in early November.
"One of the scouts found the place and put the advertising people onto us, then they came and filmed about two months ago," Mr Bleeker said.
"They started at 5.30pm and were finished by dark.
"The rest of it was all filmed in one day in the Robertson area."
Paying customers came and went in the background of the production, making the shop look open and lively.
The Bleekers were paid for lending their famous premises to the crew, and were told they might be used as a location again.
"They told us they're coming back," Mr Bleeker said, although he has no idea when.
It's not the shop's first brush with screen fame, nor Robertson's.
The pie shop was also selected as a location for a film being made last year by George Miller (who must have recalled the area after making Babe in Robertson in 1995), just before the August lockdown occurred.
"George Miller came in with his team and took all these measurements in the shop," said Mr Bleeker, who was under the impression the project also involved Nicole Kidman.
"They were going to turn it into an American diner.
"But COVID put a stop to that - I think they ended up filming it in a studio."
Mr Bleeker wasn't sure what the project was, but George Miller was filming the Fury Road prequel Furiosa in NSW during that period.
The Robertson region popped up in another car commercial in September last year, this one for Mitsubishi Triton utes, except the local treasure on display on that occasion was well-known longtime resident Nathan Waters.
Mr Bleeker said that the pie shop will also feature in an ad for Mazda, along with Nathan Hindmarsh, that has been filmed in and outside the shop.
Meanwhile, Subaru are making a feature of many small towns in their Great Australian Detour themed promotions, including the Southern Tablelands town of Braidwood, in an ad starring Andrew Daddo.
We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.