fbpx

Tiny Tui ambassadors make first on-screen appearance, as Tui vixens push the booze envelope

Youtube VideoThe Tui gnomes have been an integral part of the beer’s brand activity for the past eight years but they’ve never ventured out of the garden and onto New Zealand’s TV screens. Until now, that is, because DB and Saatchi & Saatchi have put the gnomes on the telly as part of a big on-pack and on-premise competition that’s offering a few lucky Kiwis a chance to win a ‘Tui Super Send Off’. But it’s another Tui promotion that caught our attention, for very different reasons.

“They took some coaxing but once they heard about the prize up for grabs, they were all in boots and all,” says Tui brand manager, William Papesch.

It might be a shock for committed Tui drinkers accustomed to ads featuring attractive (but intelligent) ladies brewing the good stuff or men indulging in a spot of extreme golf. But given that one lucky lad and three mates will be setting off to South Africa for a spot of shark diving, a game park adventure, hospitality at the famous Victoria Falls and a big footy match, they should be able to look past it.

Four monthly winners (February to May) will also receive a Tui Super Send Off to Brisbane for a weekend with three mates and 132 bars around the country are also running their own promotions. Check out all the info here.

On a non-gnome related note, we were alerted to the Miss Tui competition and some of the rather entertaining entries by one of our readers who raised concerns that it pushed the boundaries of responsible alcohol promotion because a few of the entrants’ profiles openly spoke about their love of excessive Tui drinking.

We had a hunt and, overall, the entrants were made up of often scantily clad vixens with bad grammar and a penchant for exclamation marks who made a few passing mentions of Tui in order to curry favour with voters (50 entries just a few weeks in apparently, up from 47 last year). But there were a few dodgier efforts.

From Michelle Kleinsmith: “If I was stranded on a beach, what would I need? Beer, bikini, good sounds, my bestie and more beer. What else will support my quest for glory? A constant supply of beer to calm the nerves, friends to drink it with and the ultimate dinosaur party on completion – and by that I mean I want a party where we all dress up like dinosaurs and just get drunk”. Or from Jessica Schollum: What else will support my quest for glory?I drank 13 handles of tui at the pub once and still walked home, thats a lot for me! Who wants a comp??”

When the self-regulated booze industry is on a mission to be seen as responsible and a bill is in front of select committee, it’s not a particularly good look. But we got the expected quote back from DB.

“Tui does not promote excessive consumption and we check all material that goes onto our Tui website to make sure it’s appropriate in terms of imagery and content.”

Of course, Tui has always walked a fine line when it comes to the appropriateness of its advertising. Which is part of its appeal. And this, it seems, is no different.

About Author

Avatar photo

One of the talented StopPress Team of Content Producers made this post happen.

Comments are closed.