Rudman's city: Cup sponsor treads in Hobson's footsteps

By BRIAN RUDMAN

The doomsayers have warned for years that multinationals are bent on colonising the world. A press release from American Express last Friday must have confirmed their worst fears.

It proclaimed that Viaduct Basin, home of the America's Cup, was "now officially called the American Express Harbour." Official? Had the takeover begun?

Until then I hadn't given a moment's thought to how Ngati Whatua felt 160 years ago when Governor Hobson turned up on their doorstep and started renaming geographic landmarks as fast he could think up names.

But if my reaction to the global money-vendor's unilateral renaming is anything to go by, I can now imagine Maori were rather put out.

In their case, no sooner had Hobson rowed in from his ship and clambered to the top of the volcanic cone Remuera, than it was being renamed Mt Hobson after his good self.

The township itself he named after Lord Auckland, the admiralty chief who had given Hobson his first trip to New Zealand in 1837. For good measure he named Mt Eden after his old boss as well, Eden being the lord's family name.

Meanwhile, the slice of waterfront now to be known as American Express Harbour was part of a broad bay named after Hobson's secretary, James Stuart Freeman.

The American Express renaming seems just as brazen as that of the old empire-builders. Anna Hynes, Amex New Zealand manager, says the area "previously known as the Viaduct Harbour" will carry the new name for at least three years.

Auckland city officials I spoke to seem rather bemused by the declaration, saying that as far as official documents are concerned, the area remains Viaduct Harbour. Let's be grateful, I guess, for small blessings.

But you do have to wonder how the city allowed Amex to try on this stunt. After all, the city is one of the members of the Viaduct Advisory Board, set up with due trumpeting in October to ensure that all the parties involved in the next America's Cup defence worked together.

Back then, Team New Zealand and America's Cup 2003 chief executive Ross Blackman declared: "This area can now truly be called the America's Cup Harbour."

This was after he had signed a deal with the city gaining the naming rights for the old cup village. AC2003 also gained the right to manage Viaduct Harbour for the six months of the next cup regatta.

For the long-suffering ratepayers it seemed like a good deal. "In return for various commercial considerations, including naming and signage rights, control of vending and merchandising, and audio and video rights, AC2003 will contribute $600,000 to Auckland City for promotion of the venue and also pay the additional operating costs during the six months of the America's Cup regatta."

No mention here of renaming the harbour. When mayor Christine Fletcher enthused that the public were definitely the winners in the deal, presumably she thought, like the rest of us, that the naming rights referred to were for the land area known as the America's Cup Village.

AC2003 then sold the naming rights on to Amex and somehow, in the process, these rights have spread to include the water area as well.

Nice try, Amex, but the answer is surely no. Certainly it is hard to work out where to draw the line with sponsorship these days.

For example, out in South Auckland kids from a school named after a trucking firm are wandering around with the company's logo on their uniforms. Auckland Hospital has a huge neon sign on its roof promoting an electronics multinational. New Zealand Opera includes its sponsor's name within its title.

But there do seem to be limits. Until now, I can't remember any geographical landmark being named for its sponsor, either here or overseas.

No doubt it could be a good little earner. Think of the bidding war for the right to rename Mt Cook or Queen St.

But do we really want to go down that path? Hopefully not. Even in these crass times, do we want to put our geography up for sale?