The controversy caused by John Oliver's interference in the Bird of the Century competition has ruffled a few feathers, says a marketer at one of our largest tourism operators
Oliver, a US talk show host and comedian, launched a campaign this week for the pūteketeke to win, promoting the native bird online and on billboards across the world.
"There is frankly no bird on Earth more deserving of the title Bird of the Century," he said on his TV show.
Te Reo o te Taiao/Forest and Bird turns 100 this year - so its annual 'Bird of the Year' competition has become 'Bird of the Century' instead.
Scott McNab, chief revenue officer at RealNZ, told Newshub Nation on Saturday he's not a fan of people "bringing controversy into these types of things".
"It feels like it's a little bit like the Australian Underarm [bowling] incident where they've found a loophole in the rules and they're looking to exploit it."
Despite that, McNab said the competition is "absolutely awesome".
He said Aotearoa "has a lot of unique native birds" and RealNZ is pushing for the kākāriki karaka to win.
"We just did a little conservation ball, where we raised $175,000 in partnership with Ngāi Tahu and DoC" to help with conservation of the endangered native.
He said the kākāriki karaka weighs "about the same as a couple of marshmallows, yet fights well above its weight and has a birdsong to die for".
"They've come back from extinction twice," he told Newshub Nation.
McNab reckoned it would take a "full country effort" to beat John Oliver's campaign for the pūtekeke, which has brought in hundreds of thousands of extra votes this week.
"It's going to take them so long to count."
Bird of the Century has been running each year since 2005.
The pīwauwau [New Zealand rock wren] won last year with 2900 votes.
Voting closes on Sunday - you can vote for your favourite here.
Watch the full interview above.
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