New Zealand’s Bird of the Year election benefited hugely from foreign interference this year with hundreds of thousands of votes – and donations – rolling in from all around the world. Anna Murray looks at how a quirky local bird contest became a worldwide PR triumph.
It started with an email out of nowhere one day in February.
Forest and Bird usually starts advertising for campaign managers for the competitors in its annual Bird of the Year competition in the middle of the year, but US talk show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver wanted in on the action early.
According to Bird of the Century spokesperson Ellen Rykers, the HBO show’s interest in being part of the competition came as a complete surprise.
“They emailed me and said, ‘we know about the competition and would be interested in being campaign managers if that’s something that you do’ and we just went, ‘Yeah,’” she said.
“The email definitely came completely out of the blue. It was a surprise, but a very welcome one, and really exciting.”
The writers’ strike in the US earlier this year did threaten to derail John Oliver’s campaign hopes for a while.
“There was a period during the writers’ strike where [Last Week Tonight] wasn't airing or in production, so we had a period where we didn't hear from them at all,” Rykers said.
“We weren't sure whether it would be resolved in time for the competition but thankfully it was.”
Choosing the pūteketeke
John Oliver’s team decided to back the pūteketeke or Australasian crested grebe, but Rykers doesn’t know their exact reasoning for choosing a bird that many New Zealanders likely hadn’t heard of before now.
“I sent them a list of all the birds that we were intending to include in the competition this year and that was the one they chose,” she said.
“We didn't give them any direction apart from this list of 75 bird species, so I don't know exactly what attracted them to it, but I think it was quite an inspired choice, really.
“[The pūteketeke] is one that is in conservation trouble and lots of New Zealanders had never heard of it, so I think that was quite a good choice for them.”
A big budget on show
Rykers said Forest and Bird had no idea just how big John Oliver’s “alarmingly aggressive” campaign would be.
The show commissioned a giant animatronic pūteketeke and ran ads asking for people to vote for the pūteketeke in places like London, Paris, Mumbai, and even the famous Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo.
“We didn't know about the animatronic puppet, so it was incredible to see,” Rykers said.
“They had mentioned to us international billboards because they had asked about wording for the name of the competition.
“But of course, you don't automatically think an international billboard means the busiest intersection in Tokyo. That was also an amazing, awesome thing to see when the segment aired.”
Rykers said the Forest and Bird team felt excitement and a little bit of trepidation for the incoming onslaught of international votes.
“But we were totally blown away by what an HBO budget can do for a Bird of the Century campaign.”
Oliver’s team informed Forest and Bird of their other plans for their campaign but kept some details under wraps.
“They gave us a heads up that John Oliver would be appearing on [The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon] … but the exact details of that appearance, for example, we didn't know about. So, it was just as surprising to us when he showed up in a giant bird costume.”
The spoils of success
The comedian said he was "thrilled" to have led the pūteketeke's winning campaign. (Source: Breakfast)
In a result that surprised precisely nobody, the pūteketeke won Bird of the Century with a majority of 277,470 votes.
Those votes came in from 195 countries. As John Oliver pointed out in his show this week, that is more countries than there are member states in the United Nations.
Forest and Bird also received around $600,000 in donations from the Bird of the Century campaign – much higher than previous records.
Giving the silly some gravitas
Deciding to make this year’s vote a Bird of the Century-style contest likely helped the success of the campaign, according to Dr Nicholas Holm, a senior lecturer in media studies at Massey University.
“In many ways, [this competition] is a bit of a lark but for some reason … making it Bird of the Century seemed to give it at least the appearance of gravitas,” he said.
Holm said it also obviously helped that John Oliver and his team threw themselves so wholeheartedly into the campaign.
“Every year, there's always a bit of interest [in Bird of the Year]. It's a very solid campaign idea that kind of calls out for people to bring attention to it by doing their own work.
“But [John Oliver] really took it to a whole new level and I think in doing so helped the competition really live up to its title.”
Holm said Oliver really leaned into the joke that was already there.
“He leaned into that silliness and exaggerated it and amplified it in ways that I think really aligned with how the competition is understood,” he said.
“It would've been sad if Bird of the Century had just been like every other Bird of the Year competition, but [John Oliver’s] involvement made it something bigger than it's ever been before, which in a way is quite lovely.”
Where to now?
Rykers admits Forest and Bird have a tough task ahead of them if they want future campaigns to reach the same heights as that of 2023.
“We're blown away by the support that's come from all the different corners of the globe for New Zealand's native birds,” she said.
“It’s been exciting and stressful, but ultimately … it’s just incredible, so we’re very grateful.
“I don't think we will ever top this year, but I think that each Bird of the Year campaign is special in its own way. And just because it doesn't reach the heights or the global reach of this campaign doesn’t mean they’re not successful.”
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