KEY POINTS:
Political leaders John Banks and Mike Lee are distancing themselves from the new logo for Auckland, which is attracting widespread criticism from the public.
The $174,000 lava-coloured logo features the letter A frayed at the edges over the word "Auckland".
Aucklanders have overwhelmingly panned the logo in feedback to the Herald, describing the logo as "A.palling", "laughable rubbish" and like a "pair of disgustingly ragged jean shorts".
Many people expressed disappointment at the loss of the City of Sails brand, used by Tourism Auckland since 1985.
Others blamed Auckland City Mayor John Banks for the logo, even though his council had nothing to do with it. Cost was another concern.
Mr Lee, who chairs the Auckland Regional Council, last night refused to comment on the $111,925 of ratepayers' money his council spent on the logo.
The logo emerged from the Metro Project action plan, which is being implemented by the business arm of the ARC.
The other $62,222 has come from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
Mr Lee also refused to give an opinion on the logo.
"I'm not a brand expert. I'm personally sceptical about the value of brands. However, there are people in the business world, in the world of tourism and promotion that think brands are important and I must defer to their expertise," Mr Lee said.
Mr Banks was also unusually quiet about voicing his thoughts, saying he had only seen the logo once.
However, he was relieved Auckland City ratepayers had not put any money into the "brand Auckland" logo following last year's controversy over a new wavy blue triangle council logo costing up to $1 million.
North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams said the logo was a $174,000 waste of ratepayers' and taxpayers' money.
Former Auckland City Mayor Dick Hubbard said the logo symbolised a city that is "frayed at the edges" and predicted it would become the butt of jokes.
AucklandPlus, the business arm of the ARC which is implementing the Metro Project action plan, has published nearly three pages of positive comments about the logo from tourism, business and other leaders.
Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey is one fan: "It is vibrant, edgy, contemporary ... it is Auckland."
Metro Project chairman Michael Barnett said it was going to take time to gain acceptance and buy-in.
The way to do that was by showing people how it could be used, Mr Barnett said.
Tourism Auckland chief executive Graeme Osborne said the new logo would be used from today as part of a new $605,000 advertising campaign aimed at local and domestic visitors highlighting little-known gems of the region.
He said the tourism body had used the City of Sails logo since about 1985. That logo had limitations, such as little regional buy-in from other councils because of the word "city".
WHAT IT COST
* Brand development $61,660
* Brand design $101,243
* Trademarking $11,244
* Total $174,147
www.brandauckland.com
