Caught in an inconvenient nation-branding promise: the problematic '100% pure New Zealand'

Abstract

This paper discusses the inconvenience of the hyperbolic '100% pure New Zealand' branding promise. It illustrates how a nation brand that promises so much can be at the mercy of the political swing of the pendulum. The paper reviews the unequal commitment to the brand promise by successive ideologically divergent governments and discusses the misalignment between the current government's policies and New Zealand's brand promise. It highlights recent attempts to reframe the inconvenient '100% pure' slogan instead of implementing policies and taking actions that would support the environment and therefore the nation brand.