100% Pure Eww... is the Aussie response

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New Zealand's new "100 per cent Pure You" tourism campaign has met with a frosty response across the ditch.

The campaign was launched last weekend and is paid for with Tourism New Zealand's annual $85 million marketing budget.

Three commercials which aired in Australia this week feature actors - including Stephanie Lillis, known for the consummately-Australian Vegemite ads - speaking about their experiences of New Zealand.

The new ads replace the "100 per cent Pure New Zealand" campaign (which ran for 12 years) and are being rolled out in Australia, Europe, Asia and the United States.

Tourism NZ would not say how much it paid advertising company Assignment and production company Exposure for the commercials, saying it was commercially sensitive.

But the ads faced criticism on the Sydney Morning Herald website. "It sounds tacky," commented reader Gavin- SpaceFace, "like something a car salesman would come up with." John from Sydney lamented: "So cold, raining all the time ."

Critics were no less harsh on Australia's media and marketing website, mUmBRELLA. Michael said:"Very, very disappointing, comes across so fake."

Groucho said: "C'mon Kiwis, this looks like a satire of the real one - no class, no subtlety, no ingenuity."

Tourism NZ marketing head Justin Watson responded that online postings about adverts were "interesting and sometimes entertaining".

"The thing that really counts is if the ads result in more people choosing New Zealand over other destinations," he said.