Tourism New Zealand releases cheeky ad poking fun at generic travel selfies

Tourism New Zealand has launched a new campaign to encourage Kiwis to do – and share – something new while travelling around the country this summer.

In the campaign, comedian Tom Sainsbury leads a fictional ‘Social Observation Squad’ on a mission to get Kiwis sharing creative snaps of their domestic travels via #DoSomethingNewNZ, rather than copying often-replicated social media trends.

Among the popular ‘hot dog legs’, ‘hot tub back shot’ or ‘follow me’ shots, one of the key examples included is what Sainsbury calls the “Summit Spreadeagle”.

This pose is frequently spotted on mountaintops across New Zealand like Roys Peak in Wānaka, or neighbouring Coromandel Peak where the video was filmed. There are nearly 70,000 photos on Instagram under #RoysPeak, many with the iconic raised hands pose.

Bjoern Spreitzer, general manager of domestic at Tourism New Zealand, said the social campaign is multi-purpose.

“Firstly, we want to continue the momentum of our domestic campaign by encouraging Kiwis to do something new in New Zealand – this can mean new tourism experiences, but we also want them to share something new on social media as well,” Spreitzer said.

“We noticed that the same pictures or poses kept coming up, time and time again, no matter the location. There are so many incredible things to do in New Zealand, beyond the social trends.

“At the same time, Kiwis are our best travel advocates, so we want to encourage them to engage with us more on social media by using #DoSomethingNewNZ when sharing photos from their domestic holidays.

“Recommendations from friends and family are highly influential when it comes to travel decisions, so by encouraging Kiwis to share new activities or experiences in New Zealand, we are inspiring broader audiences to do something new themselves.”

The campaign builds on the momentum of 100% Pure New Zealand’s ‘Do Something New, New Zealand’ campaign, launched in May 2020 to encourage domestic visitation.

“’New’ is different to everyone – visiting an iconic destination may be something completely new to one person, and not to another,” Spreitzer said.

“Either way, what we are asking Kiwis to do is find a tourism experience or destination that is new to them, then post that to social media in a new way”.

Tourism New Zealand will be monitoring #DoSomethingNewNZ on social media until the end of February, selecting ten creative Kiwis who have shared something new to reward with $500 domestic travel vouchers.