Soldiers photos no stunt – Demon Drinks

An energy drinks company has denied organising a publicity stunt that resulted in three New Zealand soldiers being sent home in disgrace from Afghanistan.

They were photographed posing with a large bomb carrying an advert for Demon energy rinks and were sent home for breaching operational security.

The men took the photos and sent them to the drink company.

One photo showed a Demon energy drink sticker with the slogan "no limits, no laws" attached to the bomb suspended from a plane, with the soldiers standing around it.

Another showed a handwritten message, "dear Taleban enjoy this demon", on the side of the bomb.

A decision was made to send the soldiers home immediately after the incident, which went against clear guidance given to all military personnel on operations, Joint Forces commander Air Vice Marshal Peter Stockwell said yesterday.

Demon Drinks company said today that the soldiers were not involved in any kind of commercial sponsorship agreement.

"Demon Drinks simply provided free drinks and posters at the soldiers' request as we wanted to support New Zealand troops," the company said.

"Demon Drinks has no understanding of army procedures, so did not know this would cause an issue."

The soldiers were not directly asked to take part in any kind of promotion.

The company said it donated products and did sampling all over the country every day.

"Often we ask for photos of people drinking the product in return. In no way was this a publicity stunt."

The company regretted what had happened to the soldiers, and had expressed that to them personally several weeks ago.

"If we had realised that this was going to be the outcome we would never have provided free drinks.

"Demon Drinks was acting in good faith to help NZ troops and we wanted to show our support for them. It is very unfortunate the way this has panned out for the soldiers and we will do everything we can to help these soldiers if their careers are in jeopardy."

AVM Stockwell said two of the soldiers had been found to have contravened the Armed Forces Discipline Act and were formally reprimanded.

"Irrespective of the investigation into whether the acts contravened military law, the NZDF sets and expects very high levels of professionalism and behaviour from its people - this is especially the case in an operational theatre where the protection of information is vital to the overall security of New Zealand interests and activities," he said.

Green Party MP Keith Locke, who previously criticised the soldiers' actions, said sending them home was an appropriate punishment.

- NZPA