Obama’s marketing power well protected during visit
It probably struck an odd note with many Kiwis that former president Barack Obama spent two days on a golf course with former prime minister Sir John Key before he and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern got some face time.
It might also seem odd that Ardern was not among the 900 guests who attended a glitzy dinner for the former US president.
But it underscores the nature of Obama’s visit.
Obama is still a rock star on the world stage. That star power is now marketing gold and has been firmly protected by his corporate sponsors, including Air New Zealand.
Pictures of Obama teeing up against a spectacular scenic backdrop are already being widely used by the airline.
For Ardern, devoting an evening listening to Obama speak, on top of their private one-on-one session, would have looked like overkill. Likewise Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who also begged off for work reasons.
Apart from anything else, attending would have put them in an uncomfortable position.
The rules imposed by Air New Zealand and Obama’s marketing team include a no social media, no photographs, no recordings rule about what the president said at Thursday’s dinner.
That’s to protect Obama’s corporate sponsors, who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring him here, with a promise of exclusive access for the who’s who of New Zealand’s rich and famous making up the guest list.
But it doesn’t sit well with a public figure like Ardern.
The powhiri at Government House was an indication that Obama still has stature in New Zealand, even though it was not an official state welcome.
But Obama’s lack of public engagements reinforces that this was very much a private visit. It was also a long time coming. From their very first meeting, Obama promised Key he was going to make it to New Zealand some day.
If he had managed to make it at any time while he was in office the symbolism would have been huge when Key and Obama first met under the shadow of the global financial crisis, relations between New Zealand and the US were still officially a little chilly.
While there were a score of officials and politicians who can probably claim some of the credit, there is no doubting that the reset in US-New Zealand relations was largely down to them.