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New Zealand businesses will make their mark on the sands of a Los Angeles beach this Waitangi Day, with the launch of a campaign to promote innovative Kiwi companies.
A giant sand sculpture of a silver fern will be created on Santa Monica beach to promote Made From New Zealand, a new brand that represents companies manufacturing in New Zealand, as well as those based partially or wholly off-shore.
The sculpture to be built by Mike Mizrahi - a New Zealand-based event organisor who has produced glamorous celebrations for Louis Vuitton - is based on one he created in 2001 on Bethells Beach in West Auckland.
The Made from New Zealand campaign was conceived by Auckland-based company Ready Now in response to the debate around the Buy New Zealand Made.
Ready Now's Simon Shattky said they were intrigued with the passion and intensity of the debate and Made From New Zealand is their response.
"We felt that over and above that you needed something that was really inclusive so people like Jeremy Moon [from clothing company Icebreaker] didn't get left out," he said.
Shattky said the campaign would not replace the Buy New Zealand Made campaign, which he said was a premium brand that would work alongside Made From New Zealand.
Shattky said Ready Now wanted to celebrate Waitangi day in a positive way rather than it being seen as a day of protest.
"I don't want to dismiss or make light of those issues, but haven't we got 364 days to address those things," said Shattky. "Can't we on this one day look forward to where we can go in the future."
Maori Television will broadcast the building of the 100 metre long sculpture as part of its Waitangi Day coverage.
The campaign is a private sector initiative with backing from a range of New Zealand companies including Air New Zealand, ASB Bank, and Telecom.
Further support will come from selling a range of tee shirts which include a thread from Sir Edmund Hillary's climbing socks.
The production run is limited to 10,517 tee shirts, representing the number of kilometres between Bethells Beach, where the first fern was built, and Santa Monica.
