Ad starring Rhys Darby and Jacinda Ardern
April 4, 2023 9:02 PM Subscribe
New Zealand tourism ad starring Rhys Darby (Stede Bonnet from Our Flag Means Death) and Jacinda Ardern (who was, at the time that the ad was first filmed and aired, the sitting Prime Minister of New Zealand.) Follow up ad with Rhys Darby; Jacinda Ardern; and Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings).
New Zealand has the BEST ads. Here's an official New Zealand government ad about Drink-Driving with Ghost Chips.
and an official New Zealand government ad about how porn doesn't teach teens about consent/relationships.
New Zealand has the BEST ads. Here's an official New Zealand government ad about Drink-Driving with Ghost Chips.
and an official New Zealand government ad about how porn doesn't teach teens about consent/relationships.
Its true. We don't exist. Disappearing off maps is the NZ ideal.
Just forget we exist. Move along, nothing to see here.
Paradoxically, The tourism industry is very very keen for everyone to know we exist and that we extract as much money from visitors as is possible.
(spleen)
I really wish they'd ditch the '100% Pure' thing - NZ is far far from 100% Pure. We only get away with polluting and exploiting the bejesus out of the environment & its resources because its a tiny population in a place larger than the UK. We love to exploit people too - particularly in tourist hot-spots and hospitality (and farming - we'll exploit all the things & cheap overseas seasonal workers too!)
(/spleen)
Still, we do make the occasional good ad. Thats what counts.
posted by phigmov at 10:22 PM on April 4, 2023 [6 favorites]
Just forget we exist. Move along, nothing to see here.
Paradoxically, The tourism industry is very very keen for everyone to know we exist and that we extract as much money from visitors as is possible.
(spleen)
I really wish they'd ditch the '100% Pure' thing - NZ is far far from 100% Pure. We only get away with polluting and exploiting the bejesus out of the environment & its resources because its a tiny population in a place larger than the UK. We love to exploit people too - particularly in tourist hot-spots and hospitality (and farming - we'll exploit all the things & cheap overseas seasonal workers too!)
(/spleen)
Still, we do make the occasional good ad. Thats what counts.
posted by phigmov at 10:22 PM on April 4, 2023 [6 favorites]
Did someone call?
Whole-heartedly agree about the 100% pure thing.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:01 PM on April 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Whole-heartedly agree about the 100% pure thing.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:01 PM on April 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Another vote for the 10% pure thing. Also I'd hypothesize that the reason we have so many good ads is because we have so many ads in general. It's a numbers game.
posted by gible at 12:42 AM on April 5, 2023
posted by gible at 12:42 AM on April 5, 2023
From the same drink-driving series - Dilemmas, which may make even less sense to people outside Aotearoa.
posted by happyinmotion at 1:31 AM on April 5, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by happyinmotion at 1:31 AM on April 5, 2023 [2 favorites]
"I've been searching the Internet for the last 30 seconds" - pre-Pandemic yet remarkably prescient.
posted by tommasz at 3:54 AM on April 5, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 3:54 AM on April 5, 2023 [3 favorites]
So they brought in a New Zealand rancher to interview. I mean, what could go wrong?
I choose to believe this was Fred Dagg.
(Technically, Kiwis would say farmer or grazier, not rancher, but the meaning is clear.)
posted by zamboni at 6:27 AM on April 5, 2023
I choose to believe this was Fred Dagg.
(Technically, Kiwis would say farmer or grazier, not rancher, but the meaning is clear.)
posted by zamboni at 6:27 AM on April 5, 2023
This is from 2018? How did I not hear about this at the time? I hired a guy born in New Zealand around then, and would love to have asked him about it as an ice-breaker in the interview.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:36 AM on April 5, 2023
posted by wenestvedt at 6:36 AM on April 5, 2023
Pretty sure I’ve mentioned it before - but it was the official Defense Policy of the NZ McGillicuddy Serious Party (who got my vote in 1999) to send agents around the world to remove NZ from all maps. Their campaign ad was compelling.
But yes - I have had to correct multiple maps missing NZ. Including the annual global report of ($Big Four Audit firm) that had only the south island correct, and two Argentina’s somehow. I also have manually peeled NZ stickers away from the Indian Ocean in a very expensive Cisco virtual conference room and placed them back where it should go. Comically this meant a vague NZ shaped smidge was left in the Indian Ocean.
In retribution for all these slights - I often move NZ travel guides to the front of book store travel section displays.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:17 AM on April 5, 2023 [4 favorites]
But yes - I have had to correct multiple maps missing NZ. Including the annual global report of ($Big Four Audit firm) that had only the south island correct, and two Argentina’s somehow. I also have manually peeled NZ stickers away from the Indian Ocean in a very expensive Cisco virtual conference room and placed them back where it should go. Comically this meant a vague NZ shaped smidge was left in the Indian Ocean.
In retribution for all these slights - I often move NZ travel guides to the front of book store travel section displays.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:17 AM on April 5, 2023 [4 favorites]
The great Middle Earth map of NZ is, of course, missing Tonga and Samoa.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 10:04 AM on April 5, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 10:04 AM on April 5, 2023 [4 favorites]
In-joke for people who've worked in tourism: when he says "Where the bloody hell are you?" That was the slogan of the infamous $184 million Tourism Australia ad campaign starring Lara Bingle. The ad was banned for rude language in many English-language-speaking countries and the slogan was nearly impossible to translate. Scott Morrison got fired for mismanaging TA because of this ad. It was, of course, a clue as to how he'd handle the prime ministership of the country. Anyway, the ad campaign is frequently held up as an example of what not to do in tourism circles.
And to tie it in with the 100% Pure complaints above: Scott Morrison claims he came up with the slogan when he was head of Tourism New Zealand.
posted by rednikki at 12:14 PM on April 5, 2023 [5 favorites]
And to tie it in with the 100% Pure complaints above: Scott Morrison claims he came up with the slogan when he was head of Tourism New Zealand.
posted by rednikki at 12:14 PM on April 5, 2023 [5 favorites]
"This is from 2018? How did I not hear about this at the time? I hired a guy born in New Zealand around then"
Relaxing child labour laws is one thing, but this has gone too far.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:24 PM on April 5, 2023 [5 favorites]
Relaxing child labour laws is one thing, but this has gone too far.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:24 PM on April 5, 2023 [5 favorites]
"New Zealand. Why not?"
posted by CaseyB at 12:24 PM on April 5, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by CaseyB at 12:24 PM on April 5, 2023 [1 favorite]
The NZ tourism ads are clever and funny. I like the 'New Zealand, where the bloody hell are ya' - a nod to a former Australian campaign that created a lot of controversy.
The ad was banned for rude language in many English-language-speaking countries
Pretty tame compared with the 'CU in the NT' tourism campaign for Australia's Northern Territory that was at first thought to be official. Despite being ruled obscene by the Advertising Standards Board, ads continue to appear all over the place, including prime-time TV.
posted by dg at 8:55 PM on April 5, 2023
The ad was banned for rude language in many English-language-speaking countries
Pretty tame compared with the 'CU in the NT' tourism campaign for Australia's Northern Territory that was at first thought to be official. Despite being ruled obscene by the Advertising Standards Board, ads continue to appear all over the place, including prime-time TV.
posted by dg at 8:55 PM on April 5, 2023
I knew that Jacinda Ardern was game for shenanigans with NZ comedians from the time she messaged Kura Forrester back slightly too late to help her in Taskmaster, but I didn't fully internalize until watching this that she also looks like a young Olivia Colman.
posted by babelfish at 7:06 AM on April 6, 2023
posted by babelfish at 7:06 AM on April 6, 2023
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They apparently got some really cheap time on early Sunday morning at some stations, so they broadcast live from a small studio. I was working on some project so I put it on in the background. These two young, high energy, smiling adventurer types were talking about how great a place New Zealand is to visit and explore. But today they had something new. What is New Zealand known for having a lot of? Sheep! So they brought in a New Zealand rancher to interview. I mean, what could go wrong?
He really looked the part--older, rugged face, well-worn work jacket and boots. They started out asking him about sheep ranching, and he started talking...and talking...and talking. They tried to interrupt him to get some other questions in, but he completely ignored them like they weren't even there. Obviously sheep ranching has been this guy's whole life and he considers it very important, and this is his chance to tell the world about it and no young no-nothings are going to stop him.
Obviously, at this point, I stopped my project and started paying more attention. Something interesting was happening here. The two young adventurers were getting nervous. It was a tiny studio with one camera and they were stuck. But then they came up with an idea. We'll show a New Zealand commercial! So they started a commercial from within this commercial, and I was now on the edge of my seat. Because I knew that when the camera lights go off, the gloves come off. I could just imagine "Listen bud, the camera's off. You've had your chance, it's time to go." This was a tiny New Zealand civil war--the sheep rancher vs the tourist bureau.
What was I going to see when the 'commercial' was done? He was older, but I think he could easily take them on. Finally the commercial ended, and he was still there, and still talking about sheep! The two smiling young adventurers were no longer smiling. They had a look of dejection. Their show was ruined--this guy was going to talk about sheep until their time was up. I was laughing my head off. I couldn't believe what I was seeing on early Sunday morning television.
posted by eye of newt at 9:58 PM on April 4, 2023 [15 favorites]