Tui backtrack: billboard black out

This Tui billboard was called in poor taste after the death of Apple's Steve Jobs. Photo / APNZ

A Tui billboard that drew an unfortunate parallel to the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is being blacked out today to avoid confusion.

A billboard reading "Job's done, Yeah Right." has been visible to thousands of commuters on Auckland's southern motorway as they pass through Ellerslie.

It was announced yesterday (Thursday) that Jobs, 56, died after a long battle with cancer.

Tui spokeswoman Jo Jalfon last night labelled the wording an unfortunate coincidence and said the board would stay up until Monday.

But today she said the company would black out the 'Job's done' phrase early to ensure commuters didn't think the ad poked fun at the computer boss.

"We're actually going to try and get it down today. It was due to have a new billboard put up on Monday. So what they do is, they just paint off what's on there and supply the new graphics, but we're going to try get it down today."

The message was posted two days after the All Blacks beat France and referred to a triumphant victory for our national team, she said.

A new billboard with a topical message after the weekend's game would be posted after the weekend, and the company had not received any complaints or feedback about the billboard.

"It's just a complete coincidence that they chose the phrase 'Job's done', which is quite a common phrase."

Among those who found the billboard offensive was One News reporter Ruth Wynn-Williams, who took to Twitter to say it was "perhaps the most bad taste Tui billboard yet".

Wynn-Williams said she saw the billboard when she was driving down the motorway with a cameraman and was "incredibly taken aback by it".

She has since taken to Twitter again to reiterate she didn't write the "news story about the billboard, saw it when flying past in the car".

Although the wording of the board is a coincidence, previous messages have generate publicity for their controversial references.

A billboard put up near a school shortly after Michael Jackson's death read: "Don't worry, MJ touched me too. Yeah right."

Another, reading "Let's take a moment this Christmas to think about Christ. Yeah right.", was taken down after falling foul of Christians.