New Zealand has tried to lure tourists in many different ways over the years, most highlighting its scenery. Since the 1990s, the M&C Saatchi-devised “100% Pure New Zealand” has remained the primary slogan, supplemented with shorter-duration campaigns emphasising things like the country’s location as Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Whether Tourism New Zealand and Air NZ CEO-turned-Prime Minister Chris Luxon were thinking of Australia’s “Where the bloody hell are you” when they came up with the latest catchphrase may never be known, but it seems they wanted the same breakthrough effect.
