Ben Espiner: Can beer be racist?

There are very few things I’d stick my neck out for in life, beer is one of them.

Cultural and social advisers in New Zealand do some decent work. They can be important in facilitating events and processes in companies or organisations that must be culturally cognisant in their undertakings.

Bob Edlin: The Farce of Cultural Appropriation

Yes, you can win IPONZ approval for your branding but it’s back to the drawing board if some Māori mount an offensive against you

The makers of the gin once branded “indiginous”  announced early in June they were back in business and their product – now known as “imagination” – was available again, in stores and online.

Since then their Facebook page has recorded that whatever it’s called, the hand-crafted gin they make in the Reikorangi Valley, near Waikanae, has gone down a treat with the experts. They were awarded a silver medal and the highest score for a New Zealand gin at the London Spirits Competition; a gold, a silver and two bronze medals at the New Zealand Spirits Awards; and a bronze medal at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in the UK.

The most recent post, on August 18, advised:   

“A very satisfying way to end the medal season! We won our very first medal with our very first gin at the 2019 SIP Awards in the USA, and we’ve gone back to back with another Gold medal for our Triple Distilled Dry Gin for 2020.”

Another of their gins picked up Silver. 

But it has been a harrowing year.

Their “indiginous” gin had been on sale for more than a year when – early in March – they were  targeted in a social media campaign of abuse and threats by people professing to have been offended by a Māori tattoo-inspired label, by the brand name, and by “cultural appropriation”.