KEY POINTS:
He's the naughty boy with the twinkling eye who became the enduring larrikin. The kid who loved to see what a bunch of double-happys would do to a letter box, whose knack for getting himself in and out of trouble paid off big time on the rugby field and is doing the same in business.
While some want to give him a clip around the ear, more would prefer to hug him. He even won the princesses. Former steady was ex-Black Stick pin-up Mandy Smith. Two years ago Argentinian beauty Agustina Mon became Mrs Marc Ellis.
Mischief and trouble (and success) have often gone hand in hand.
Juice company Charlies' "squeezing lemons" advert (featuring a cartoon version of Ellis) was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority which ruled its linkage of lemons and breasts broke a rule that says sex appeal shouldn't be used to sell unrelated products.
Trouble brewed with the Rangitoto eruption hoax used to launch new venture Mintshot. Mintshot aims to provide greater traction for advertisers and fodder for marketers by rewarding people with virtual cash with which to bid for prizes in return for watching advertisements and answering questions.
Few fell for the hoax but it achieved attention. Mintshot didn't have a permit to set off the fireworks and the Department of Conservation huffed that it was taking legal advice, noting that a fire could have had devastating consequences for the largest pohutukawa forest in New Zealand.
Unlike Charlies on the ascendant since formation nine years ago Mintshot's start has been ragged.
Technical problems plus the effort/reward ratio has seen interest tail off from a promising 108,000 unique visitors to its website in launch month to a quarter of that in January, three months later.
But the public's interest in Ellis endures. Men's magazine M2 made him its man of the year again last year.
Not even a drug conviction dented his affair with the public. He's everywhere. See him now on the tele larking about on Matthew & Marc's Rocky Road to Russia. Last year it was How The Other Half Live. He's there in the ads, too. Then there's his book, Crossing The Line. That sold 40,000 copies making it one of the biggest sellers of its type ever.
What is it that appeals about Ellis' brand of laddism?
"We always thought that he appealed right across markets," says Kevin Chapman, managing director of Hachette Livre. The publisher had approached Ellis, 36, years earlier, such was its confidence.
"He's always had this public persona which I think appeals to men and women. Men like that he continues to have character in a way some would like to continue to have. [He's] Peter Pan-like. And women seem to be attracted to him, possibly for the same reason."
Even when he's made some gaffe, he tends to be forgiven, says Ric Salizzo, Ellis' friend, victim and the creator of cult television hit Sports Cafe on which Ellis starred.
Hell broke loose after Ellis let slip on air the phrase "sweating like a rapist" but, says Salizzo, even the women's group representative who rang to complain said she knew he meant nothing by it.
"He's not mean, other than to me. He never goes out of his way to hurt or upset people, that's not his style," Salizzo says.
According to Ellis, his mix of straight-talk and flippancy is in the genes. Thus, Ellis predicted to M2 magazine, more bother lies ahead. The advice his father Chris gave him may offer a hint to his philosophy on life: "If it feels good and it doesn't hurt anyone, then go and do it."
No one is suggesting that naming the company behind a planned cafe at an iconic West Coast beach Preserve Piha Ltd is hurtful. Cheeky? Yes. Cynical? Auckland regional councillor and Piha bach owner Sandra Coney thought so.
Coney is among a group who say a city-style cafe detracts from the essential difference that makes Piha unique. They are taking their fight to the Environment Court. The name of Coney's group? Project Piha Heritage.
It's a fair bet Ellis would lump the cafe opponents with those who complained about the Charlies ads, under the PC banner. That's his pet hate. Of the ASA decision to ban "Squeezing Lemons", Ellis said it was a case of "the tail wagging the dog" - a few complainants spoiling a harmless laugh for the rest.
Ellis, then, will be surprised to learn he's a little new age himself. He embodies the brand archetype of the larrikin but he's more than that, says M&C Saatchi strategic director Jacqueline Smart. He's the antithesis of the silent, dour, stoic Southern Man.
Smart earns her crust forensically examining what pushes our buttons. It's called semiotics, the study of signs.
There's a tension in New Zealand, she says, between strength and openness. "What's interesting about Ellis is he's of an age group that is more traditional and where the strength and the management and non-display of emotion was seen to be what made you a New Zealander," yet Ellis represents the openness of that battle of types. And, according to recent studies, that appeals to younger age groups, particularly Maori and Pacific Islanders.
Ellis gives permission to express how you feel, says Sharp, "and that is particularly important for New Zealand culture which does have this tension around being strong but wanting to be open and not knowing which most typifies New Zealand.
"You call it naughty, but it's anybody who basically just says what he thinks and does what he feels. His appeal is that he resolves this tension in our culture."
Ad industry colleague Mike Larner says Ellis represents an idealised stereotype of the modern Kiwi male. "Blokes want him as a best mate, girls want to date him, and mums want him as a son-in-law."
He's got business acumen and is forward-thinking, as shown with Mintshot and Charlies, and yet his success in rugby connects him to New Zealand heritage, says Larner, managing director of Tequila, part of advertising agency TBWA\Whybin.
Ellis' handling of his drug conviction boosted his popularity, suggests Larner, because he appeared genuine and didn't try to blag it. "He didn't shed tears but he was chastened enough for us to get the idea that he knew he was out of order."
Ellis is wise not to appear to take himself too seriously, warns Larner, "because there is a tall poppy syndrome".
Ellis is aware of it, having publicly commented that people give you a hand as you rise but will pull you down once you reach a certain level. An Ellis associate, who did not want to be named, told the Weekend Herald that the shots people have taken at Ellis have weighed on him.
He makes the point that Ellis' public image is not fabricated. He's not a big head and doesn't crave publicity (Ellis declined an interview for this piece saying he preferred to "keep things low key at the present").
Rather his public profile was accidental but the businessman in Ellis recognises its potential to help achieve his goals.
Salizzo says the Ellis we saw on his show is no different than the joker he meets for lunch.
But there is a serious, considered, conservative (he's a member of the Northern Club) side that is both opportunistic and strategic. When he appeared on current affairs show Close Up about the "Squeezing Lemons" ban, Ellis seized the moment to plug a key marketing plank of Charlies by commenting that rivals added sugar.
Ellis, who has a business degree in marketing, always had a clear notion of his goals and didn't let the fun get in the way.
"He's two characters," says Laurie Mains, who coached Ellis in Otago and All Black teams. "When he's working on the rugby field, playing or training he was extremely serious and extremely focused. He knew exactly what he wanted to achieve.
"I saw this other side, the likeable larrikin. He succeeded in separating the two; he had wonderful balance ... a wonderful ability to totally relax and let the other side of his character come through."
Intellect and competitiveness were other characteristics. In the professional era, Ellis was good at putting his contracts together, while Mains says a story involving fellow All Black John Timu is typical of his determination. Ellis and Timu had an ongoing press-up and chin-up competition which they would do after normal training.
Concerned the extra effort might tire them for an upcoming All Black match, Mains ordered them to give it a rest for a few days before the game, only to chance upon the pair behind the grandstand grunting and snorting in the midst of a chin-up duel.
Ellis applies this competitiveness to business. Passion, inspiration and drive have already made him successful but it is not his nature to be satisfied.
He's success-driven and in business the score is kept in terms of money. "He's very money-orientated," says the associate, " ... and he'll never be happy because he's not the richest man in the world. Like his book - 40,000 sales is an amazing result but he wanted to sell 50 or 60,000."
Ellis, who owns a home in St Mary's Bay, has made good money from sport, television and business, but former NBR Rich List editor Graeme Hunt estimates he would fall well below the entry rung of $25 million.
Real wealth in New Zealand is land and product based, says Hunt. Companies such as Mico Wakefield quietly go about their business and then one day are bought for tens of millions.
Charlies ploughs returns into expansion, and looks promising, he says. "In five or 10 years it wouldn't surprise me if Ellis made the main list."
