It is well known that Australians and New Zealanders have a rich history underpinned by friendly rivalry. We argue over sport and which nationality can claim Russell Crowe. We argue over the oceanic origins of Crowded House and the champion thoroughbred, Phar Lap. Even a contentious debate over who invented the pavlova has been on the lips of many an antipodean for decades.

 

It seems that whenever a success story emerges from our Tasman waters, Australia is quick to lay claim to it. But how do you respond when Australia tries to claim your entire country? Well, that’s exactly the predicament New Zealand found itself in when Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) launched its annual Australia Day ad proposing the unthinkable – that New Zealand and Australia merge to form one nation, ‘New Australia-Land’.

 

The idea of ‘New Australia-Land’ captivated social media, with thousands of commentators weighing in on the topic.

 

But while it became a trending topic online, we discovered that the Australians had forgotten one vital campaign asset — to register a website for newaustralialand.com.au.

 

We seized on the opportunity to respond and promptly registered the newaustralialand.com.au domain name. Within 48hrs we had turned newaustralialand.com.au into a hub of all the wonderful and unique things you could experience in this newly coined nation. But all was not what it seemed. Every single one of the experiences just so happened to be based on the ‘eastern island’, New Zealand. We completely left Australia off the map, so to speak. Oops.