Ahiahi mārie, welcome to The Spinoff Daily.
Today on The Spinoff: A world-renowned illusionist reads a reporter’s mind, and Hera Lindsay Bird answers your most frequently asked questions about love and dating.
“When Hercules the dog passed away in 2004, his body lay in state for several days and was visited by over 2000 members of the public. The 6pm news assembled a package of his greatest film and television work, soundtracked by ‘Fields of Gold’ by Sting. Messages of condolence ran in all the newspapers; the NZ Herald ran a black page with just one word to express their grief: bugger.
Hercules was the mud-splattered star of the 1999 Toyota Hilux ad which, although now a quarter-century old, remains one of the most talked-about popular culture moments in New Zealand history. Not only is it one of the top five most complained-about ads of all time, the ‘Bugger’ ad launched screeds of unofficial merchandise from tyre covers, to hats, to number plates, and is thought to have single-handedly shifted the wider public attitude towards the expletive and advertising standards.
This is the complete story of how that ad came to be, and the impact that it continues to have on Aotearoa, 25 years on.”
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