Buddy Mikaere: What's in a name? Use of Māori place names to sell sauce wrong

Te reo is a shared aspect of being a Kiwi, says Buddy Mikaere. Photo / Getty Images

COMMENT

Gary Burnett was the guy who over 10 years ago had the AA style "Pie Here" sign made up to advertise his pie-making skills at his Junction Cafe bakery near the Puketona intersection of SH3 and SH10 on the road to Paihia in Northland.

The Pie Here sign was installed immediately below the official Paihia sign. I remember the first time I saw the sign when driving up to Waitangi and coming to the intersection.

I thought it was very clever and humorous and wouldn't you know it; stopped for a pie so that I could say "I had a pie at Pie Here on my way to Paihia".

But the recent use of Gary's humorous sign by Watties (owned by US-based company H J Heinz) to promote its tomato sauce – a condiment that is something of a national icon in New Zealand – has unleashed a largely social media storm which has grown beyond teacup size.

It's because Gary Burnett's Pie Here has been expanded with new, although you have to say try-hard examples, like Frittianga and Wanakebab.

I guess it's no different to the Dorkland term used for New Zealand's largest city but there's no real cultural association with Auckland.

The city was named by Governor Hobson in 1840 for an obscure English aristocrat, George Eden, Earl of Auckland and First Lord of the Admiralty at the time.

Hobson probably owed the earl for patronage of some kind.

Christchurch Fush restaurant owner and strong te reo advocate, Anton Matthews, decided to ban Wattie's products in protest against the Wattie's ad poster campaign linking mangled Māori place names to its tomato saucer flagship product.

Matthews said he made his decision because he was disappointed with Wattie's. He went to social media public with his decision. And as a result he has been subjected to a tirade of social media abuse including the usual four-letter expletives and the standard "get a life" or even worse "I hope your business goes broke" comments.

Anton is the guy who in 2018 advertised free te reo lessons at his restaurant and asked for registrations. But once the number registered passed 90 he realised he needed a bigger venue.

Some 3000 people expressed interest and eventually over 600 turned up to the lessons which were held in the Christchurch Boys High auditorium.

So here's a man who puts his money where his te reo is.

I'm not sure if Anton knows of Gary's decade-old Pie Here notice but as with many things age does not necessarily legitimise mis-use.

What started as a light-hearted play on words for local consumption, has now, in my opinion, been appropriated by a global food giant for a New Zealand campaign push of its products.

As a passionate supporter of te reo, Anton's stance of disappointment at the misuse of te reo in this way is understandable.

But hang on, his Christchurch restaurant is called Fush. Isn't it the same thing? A fun play on words?

No it's not.

We all know that "Fush" is a word that only Australians can hear. But Anton is clearly bilingual and an expert in both languages. In my view, Wattie's is not.

Wattie's has cancelled its campaign after complaints it was making fun of Māori place names and setting back efforts to promote te reo. A spokesman said: "We have endeavoured to make it absolutely clear there has been no intention to offend anyone.''

In our whānau, we make word jokes all the time. Those of us living in Mangere call it Mon-share so that we can come from a flash part of Dorkland. Same as living in A-von-dah-lay for the denizens of Avondale. I'm sure there are others – Parnhell for Parnell for example.

I remember as a very junior clerk getting a real reaming out from my boss by responding to his question "where the hell is Tikitiki?" by suggesting it was "in the clocky clocky?" The point is, I think, that we sure as hell do not use those word plays to try and sell tomato sauce.

This all comes on the back of recent research based on the 2013 census which resulted in a conclusion that unless there was serious government intervention, Māori language was on a path to extinction.

I don't accept this conclusion of course but that could just be a reflection on the people within my life reach who are either fluent Māori speakers or like myself – people actively seeking to improve their te reo skills – or the myriad Pākehā people I know who understand that te reo is a shared aspect of being a Kiwi and make honest attempts to get it right on things like place names.

"Tow-rung-ah" is the prime example. These things are important because they are small pieces of our identity that, like the haka or our national predilection to punch above our weight, makes us unique in the world.

I remember trying to explain to some visiting Alaskan friends what an Eskimo Pie was. They listened to my explanation with increasing incredulity. It was a wake-up call for me. It had never occurred to me that Innuit people found use of the term Eskimo offensive, in the same way that I find being called "Hori" offensive.

What's in a word indeed.