No, New Zealand isn’t having a liquidation sale, but no one would blame you if you thought that.
A poorly worded marketing campaign has sent people into a craze wondering if the country is feeling okay. A tourism ad has been running a new messaging strategy in hopes of enticing more visitors to the country, particularly from neighboring Australia, but its efforts are actually making it seem to be the other way around.
“Everyone Must Go” reads the new tagline, and you don’t have to think too hard to make the connection between those three words and the phrasing you’d hear at a local JoAnn Fabrics hoping to clear all of its products out before closing its doors. According to NBC News, the marketing promotion is said to cost $287,000 U.S. dollars. Yikes.
New Zealand Has a New Tourism Slogan and It’s Pretty Bad
A press release announcing the movement urged Australians to choose New Zealand to celebrate their holiday in hopes of restoring tourism back to what it was prior to 2020. Tourism is a major part of the country’s economy and supports approximately 200,000 jobs, according to the release.
In describing the tagline, the statement says that “Everyone Must Go” reminds everyone that the place is a must-visit for anyone looking to get away and that New Zealand is “ready and waiting to welcome them now.”
That sounds great; I’m just not sure the slogan gets that point across without sounding like New Zealand wants people to get out of the country. Others, like the local outlet RNZ, mentioned that the words make people think about going to the toilet. One person quoted in the story legitimately said that it “might refer to the need for toilets in some of our high-tourist spots.” Clearly, this messaging is working.
Jokes aside, the unfortunate wording isn’t helping the country accomplish what it is setting out to do. There’s a real need to drum up interest in people visiting New Zealand again after seeing numbers decline since the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a drastic all-time low in 2021 for visitors but that number has since rebounded slightly over the past few years.
This mixed with a recession that the country finds itself in has New Zealand reeling. That’s why there was so much money put into this marketing campaign. Unfortunately, the “Everyone Must Go” slogan has people thinking about making a pit stop for a urinal or bargain bin clearance shopping as opposed to booking a weekend away.
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