Mental health campaigner Mike King says he pulled his charity I Am Hope’s backing from a fundraising event because he did not want to associate with the inappropriate tagline of a beer tied to it.
The beer’s tagline is “not for p*ssies”.
The beer, Swordfish Mojo, was created by The ITM Fishing Show host Matt Watson.
Watson helped sponsor and promote Saturday night’s Ironfist Charity Fight Night in Hamilton. The event was originally slated as a fundraising drive for King’s charity.
King told the Herald: “When I became aware of Matt’s beer we pulled out. But as I said to Matt, I know that their slogan was tongue-in-cheek, there was no intention of hurting anybody, but you know, we can’t be associated with it.”
He said the tagline “is just not appropriate” despite being a joke, as “we are in schools, and that word in the context of a young child is not appropriate - that’s it”.
In May, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announced King’s Gumboot Friday campaign, part of I Am Hope, would receive $6 million of taxpayer money a year for the next four years to fund counselling sessions for youngsters.
King said one of his charity’s staffers accepted an offer from Ironfist Charity Fight Night for sponsorship without including him in the decision-making. King apologised for this, saying he should have been across it and aware of what his foundation was involving itself in.
Watson told the Herald, “We have had no complaints about our tongue-in-cheek tagline ‘not for p*ssies’, despite it being seen millions of times on our social media pages over several months”.
He also said I Am Hope liked and shared “some of the content with the most overt display and mentions of the tagline before the event”.
News of King’s decision was shared by The Pursuit of Hoppiness, an online publication focused on beer in New Zealand, which quoted industry insiders as saying, “What’s the message here? That only self-assessed alpha males can drink this beer?”
Watson said: “The upset started last week when a craft beer journalist brought it to the attention of I Am Hope. To date, the only upset over our tagline I have heard or seen anywhere is from the journalist [who] contacted Mike and [me].
“Mike explained to me that they have to be careful these days so said they would not be able to accept proceeds from the event, which is a shame, but I understand completely and accept the decision of I Am Hope and will continue to support them.”
Watson said he was approached by the Ironfist Charity Fight Night promoters for help.
“When the promoters asked me to help I Am Hope by sponsoring some beer and helping with promotion of the event I was happy to oblige, as I’ve helped with several fundraisers for I Am Hope over the years, they do incredible work.”
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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