Two liquor franchises have been forced to remove an advertisement using an image of one of New Zealand's most famous waka.
It follows multiple complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, calling the promotion denigrating and exploitative.
The waka, Ngātokimatawhaorua, has carried royalty such as Princess Diana and was built in 1940 for the centennial signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
On Waitangi Day it appeared in an advertisement by two well-known liquor chains, without permission.
Alcohol Prevention Advocate Rawiri Ratu said he found the advertisement offensive.
"The waka for us, among other things, for Māori, is about strength and it's also our whakapapa as well, so to use this image to try and attract Māori into bottle stores in absolutely shameful.
"It shows you the degree of arrogance and ignorance."
Māori Wardens Ki Ōtara chair Mereana Peka said she felt as though there wasn't any respect, and "the tikanga was abused".
Multiple complaints have been made to the Advertising Standards Authority by lobby group communities against alcohol harm, prompting the removal of the advertisements from social media.
Communities Against Alcohol Harm Grant Hewison said: "That is cultural appropriation, the alcohol industry guidance talks about that.
"The waka taua is a sacred taonga and to have to gone to that degree I think is really inappropriate."
But it's not the first time the use of Māori imagery in the alcohol industry has been at the centre of controversy.
Ratu said he recalls an image on Waipiro and Māori where they used a woman in her 90s to encourage people to by a DB.
Thirsty Liquor Group told 1News in a statement it is sincerely sorry for any disrespect caused.
It said it was never its intention to degrade the mana of the waka, and it is taking steps to ensure an incident like this never happens again.
Māori are nearly twice as likely to have hazardous drinking habits compared to non-Māori, and two-and-a-half times more likely to suffer from an alcohol-related death.
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