Clever marketing makes for a memor-a-bull visit

You could never accuse the small Rangitikei town of Bulls of being forget-a-bull.

It has taken its unusual name in its stride and created a unique tourist attraction from completely ordinary things - like sandwich shops and police stations - simply by adding "bull" to just about anything along its main street.

So as you're driving along SH3, you might stop at the Information Centre because it's Inform-a-bull, if you have some trouble, the local const-a-bull will be there to help, and when you're hungry, there's an array of eat-a-bull things to choose from.

The signs outside virtually everything in town were set up by the Bulls and Districts Enterprise Committee as a way of capitalising on its name.

"It's really just to make the most of the name and to put the place on the map," committee secretary Marilyn Guinan says. "We have had great feedback from people."

She says the signs prove their worth when carloads of people stop to have their pictures taken outside some of the most memorable - like the church, which is forgive-a-bull.

And it's not as if there's no one stopping. The middle of Bulls is where State Highways 1 and 3 intersect and there are high volumes of traffic.

Mrs Guinan says the town is named after James Bull, who ran the general store. "People used to say, 'We're going to Bulls', and it stuck."

Pharmacist Graeme Platt - whose shop is Indispens-a-bull - says he gets comments from all around the world after tourists stop to take photos outside the big bull on the edge of town.

"It's just different and gimmicky so people love it ... It's been a marketing gem."

Mr Platt thinks there is more potential for Bulls to grow if more of the townsfolk join in. "Anyone who wants to trade on the name can."

For more information on Bulls, visit www.unforgetabull.co.nz