Vogel's latest breakfast ad pulls Kiwi heartstrings

It's no easy feat to start a national dialogue with a breakfast advertisement, but Vogel's appears to have pulled it off.

In the ad, a group of eight Kiwis are grouped together for breakfast and given plates from which they read different facts about the life of someone else at the table and must guess who it is. The tone is set when the first plate, "Can name every All Black since 1987," is claimed by Kenyan-born man.

The ad, celebrating 50 years for the company, has already garnered more than 100,000 views on Vogel's Facebook page since being released yesterday. It was first run during a commercial break for The Block on Three on Sunday night.

Professor and Pro Vice-Chancellor of humanities at Massey University, Dr Paul Spooney, said the ad underlined what he saw as "some of the key characteristics of the 'superdiverse' nature of New Zealand in the 21st century".

"By world standards, New Zealand is a welcoming and open society and one of the most diverse and inclusive countries anywhere in the world," Spooney said.

"This video helps disrupt the way in which we think of people - for instance, who would have thought that Kenyan-born Suresh would be the only one to be able to recount every All Black since 1987?"

The group includes people who are revealed to have taught in a warzone, speak fluent te reo, raise children by themselves and streak at Basin Reserve. One woman is revealed to be Rainbow Warrior hero Susi Newborn, who put herself between a harpoonist and a whale.

Vogel's marketing manager, Andrew Fenwick, said "real connections" were formed around the table in the filming of the ad.

"We always hoped this would happen but it was heart-warming to see it unfold in front of us," Fenwick said.

Response on social media has been overwhelmingly positive. One person said, "just wanted to congratulate you guys on a truly beautiful kiwi advert. Probably the only advert that I can say has bought tears to my eyes (in a warm way of course) just shows we are all special in different ways that are often unexpected."

Another said: "What an inspiring commercial. I know I judge, and am myself judged, everyday. But we're all kiwis, and everyone has a story worth telling."

Rachel Ellerm, head of marketing for Vogel's, said the company was thrilled with the response the ad had received.

"We know we have hit the sweet spot when the sentiment is so positive, and have so many people talking about what it means to be a New Zealander," Ellerm said.

"In this film we wanted to show that one thing that's at the heart of our success as a nation is our diversity and our uniqueness."