Hello, Death!

© Reuters/Yves Herman

Coca-Cola's marketing slogan in New Zealand misfires – and it becomes an embarrassing blunder for the company. 

Somebody was trying to be a tad clever by attempting to come up with an expression that mixes a greeting from the island’s indigenous peoples’ language, Māori (also known as te reo), with English. 

Twitter image on October 14, 2018 @ 08L11 AM

“Kia Ora, Mate”, read the signage, combining the Māori word for “hello” and the English word “mate”, a common term used to refer to friends. As it turns out, “mate” means “death” in Māori, which is one of New Zealand’s official languages. 

Therefore, the phrase on the vending machine essentially read, "Greetings, death". 

Some social media users joked that the beverage-maker was owning up to impacts the sugary drinks could have on the indigenous community. New Zealand has one of the highest obesity rates in the developed world, with one in three adults categorized as grossly overweight, according to statistics from the country’s 2016-17 health survey. 

New Zealand’s indigenous community is particularly affected, with some 50% of Māori adults and 18% of Māori children classified as obese. 

Social media users kept a sense of humor about Coca-Cola’s mix-up. 

“While high-sugar soft drinks aren’t great, especially for dental health, they are not as far I know immediately lethal”, one wrote. 

A Twitter user claimed Coca-Cola may have gained some “self-awareness” and another one commented “Finally, truth in advertising”. 

I find all of this amusing. If you don’t know, I drink Coke every day – and therefore, I wasn’t too bothered by this faux pas. 

It won’t stop me and it didn't stop me! In fact, this morning (Monday, October 22), I had my Coca-Cola and nasi lemak (with sotong)!

At this point in time, Death is avoiding me, haha!