Corporate giant says sorry over slogan
A corporate drinks giant has said sorry and pulled promotional material after it used a term which has previously caused offence to Taranaki Ma¯ori.
In branding of its popular Coke drink, Coca-Cola Amatil used the slogan ‘‘Share a Coke in The Naki’’.
A photo of the promotional display, seen at BP Powderham in New Plymouth on Tuesday, was taken by Hohepa Te Moana and then posted online.
‘‘I often wonder who big corporations consult when making certain decisions...,’’ his post said.
In the past, use of the term has drawn the ire of Ma¯ori, with some seeing it as an offensive and disrespectful shortening of Taranaki.
In a written response to Stuff’s questions, a Coca-Cola Oceania spokesperson said it was not aware of any previous concerns related to the use of Naki and apologised for any offence taken by it. Teams were out yesterday removing all point-of-sale material referencing the word, the spokesperson said.
As part of its Share-A-Coke campaign, the company had asked Kiwis for suggestions for popular nicknames and place names and the Naki was one suggested, the statement said.
About 45 firms in Taranaki use the word in their business
name. However, at least one company made changes after iwi members raised concerns about it.
Once known as Naki Cloud, the digital cloud storage company became Our Cloud in November 2018.
Puna Wano-Bryant, of Taranaki Iwi, had seen Te Moana’s post on Tuesday night and flagged her concern with a regional representative who works for the global corporation.
Wano-Bryant said while the company had acted quickly, it was ‘‘still not good enough’’.
‘‘Regionally, attitudes are changing. I think it’s a national misstep on their part.’’
The site manager of BP Powderham declined to comment on the issue.
It’s not just the abbreviation of te reo words which have drawn criticism either, with pronunciation of kupu (words) also under the microscope.
In June this year, GJ Gardner pulled a TV ad after a former Taranaki woman complained about the way the name of the region was pronounced.
Thomas Emmerson, owner of digital marketing company Vanguard 86, said advertising companies based outside Taranaki would not be attuned to the local sentiment around the use of Naki.
‘‘It’s ignorance, and maybe naivety, and maybe copying what’s been done before,’’ he said of the possible reasons it was used in the campaign.
He said the attitude towards the use of the term in the region was changing, and the response to the GJ Gardner advert was one reason for this.
Emmerson said while it was commendable of Coca-Cola Amatil to try to connect with Taranaki consumers, if his company was in charge of its marketing he definitely would have advised it to steer clear of the term. One of the challenges now was finding resources or guidance around what could be used as better way to reflect the province without having to use the entire word Taranaki, he said.