We have been told in no uncertain terms by the NZ Advertising Standards Authority that ice cream does NOT make us happy and that anyone who dares to advertise that it does, better wipe the smirk off their face quick smart, because “the implicit claim that there is a link between ice cream and happiness could potentially undermine the health and wellbeing of consumers.”
Now hot on the heels of that judgement (which flies against the science of what rewards the pleasure centres inside our brains) is the NZ Dental Association which claims that using the Maori word for family on a Coke bottle label exploits Maori!
The New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA) has lashed out at Coca-Cola for targeting Maori on soft drink labels, calling it “unethical and completely irresponsible.”
Apparently it is okay to “exploit” people who speak and read English, but if a Maori word is used, that magically turns it into exploitation! I don’t think that the NZ Dental Association would like anyone to look too closely into why they made that claim as it would reveal their inherent racism. Why else would they complain when the word Whanau is used but not when the word family is used? Do they seriously think that Maori families are stupid and need to be specially protected from soft drink advertising?
[…] The Maori Dental Association, NZDA sugary drinks spokesperson Rob Beaglehole said calls to action such as “‘Share a Coke with Whanau’ and ‘Share a Coke with Kuia” were “a subversive insidious way to connect with people who suffer a disproportionate amount of dental disease and harm from a public health perspective.”
There were “shades of the tobacco industry,” he said, with Coca-Cola targeting an already vulnerable group.
Here we go. First, health activists successfully demonised the tobacco industry, and now, just as Editor Cameron Slater predicted many years ago on the blog Whaleoil, they have moved on to the food and drinks industry, which is now under fire with their products being described as if they are illicit and addictive like a drug and consumers “vulnerable” like drug addicts.
Coca-Cola New Zealand denies directly marketing to Maori, saying its “Share a Coke” campaign “reflect(s) the diversity of cultures in Aotearoa today.”
When then Whaleoil Editor Cameron Slater made a speech to the NZ Food and Grocery Council many years ago they laughed at him when he told them that they would be targeted as “Big Sugar” and the same techniques used against the tobacco industry would be used against them.
I bet they are not laughing now.