The top of the Kiwiburger box has the word 'whanau' without the macron. Photo / RNZ, Emma Andrews
By Emma Andrews of RNZ
It is a 90s Kiwi classic.
The McDonald’s Kiwiburger has returned for its second summer promotion, leaving a two-year-long, unnoticed mistake on the packaging.
“Whānau,” the te reo Māori word for family, is missing a macron on the box that contains the burger – the packaging has the revamped lyrics of the Kiwiburger song.
McDonald’s New Zealand spokesman Simon Kenny said it was frustrating to see the typo.
“Unfortunately, it appears that there has been a human error in updating the Kiwiburger packaging, and at some point the word ‘whānau’ lost its macron.”
The only other word that requires a macron is “kūmara”, which is in place.
The same packaging has been used throughout the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 summers, with the limited-time product coming off the menu in a few weeks.
There have been no complaints of the mistake over the past two Kiwiburger campaign periods.
“We apologise for the error, and now it has been brought to our attention we will ensure it is corrected for future use.”
Kenny said the company has been actively involved in te reo Māori revitalisation, and has promoted Te Wiki o te Reo Māori by putting te reo Māori kupu (words) inside its chain restaurants and on its dine-in trays.
“McDonald’s updated the lyrics for the iconic Kiwiburger song in 2020, to better reflect the modern New Zealand. There was extensive consultation and approvals for the new lyrics, including cultural advisers and language experts.”
The reimagined song had Anika Moa, Troy Kingi, Tami Neilson and a band of Kiwis put together for the 2020 advertisement.
“The song has proved as popular as the burger and was re-run over the last two summers,” Kenny said.
– RNZ
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