The ad is ubiquitous, with the character even popping up on the TVNZ+ app’s opening screen recently.

“What on earth is that creepy KFC ad in the TVNZ App, the Colonel in a hoody acting like some V for Vendetta doppelganger,” wrote one Reddit user. “Enough already.”

“It’s so bad,” said another user. “And scared my kids when I opened the app on the TV (admittedly, they are young and very sheltered lol).

“I also don’t get why TVNZ is littering their clean opening page with shitty branded stuff. I get they want every ad dollar, but it makes it feel like a tacky/compromised product instead of premium (which I think TVNZ app actually is).”

The concerns extend further, based on the scourge of hacking and cybercrime.

“It is deeply irresponsible to see a global brand like KFC using hacking as a sales hook and trivialising an issue that causes so much online harm, and at a time when the need to educate and warn of cyber crimes has never been higher,” said one Media Insider source.

“Banks and governments are driving campaigns to warn against this very behaviour.”

One of the agencies behind the campaign, Special, has described the campaign as “disruptive and distinctive”.

“There’s nothing clever about normalising a behaviour that destroys lives, businesses and reputations,” said one source. “Cyber hacking is not a marketing gimmick. It’s a serious crime, and the brand and its agencies should know better.”

Another source, from the banking sector, thought that most people would understand the concept of the advertising campaign.

The Advertising Standards Authority is investigating 50 complaints, making it one of the year’s most complained-about commercials. Earlier this year, Lotto’s naked skier was topping the list with a similar number of complaints.

“The complaints board chair has accepted the [KFC ad] complaints to be considered by the complaints board, and responses have been requested from the advertiser and the media,” ASA chief executive Hilary Souter said.

Complainants had raised issues under the truthful presentation and social responsibility principles of the Advertising Standards Code, she said. “We will not be making any further comment while the complaints are processed through our system.”

KFC, which is owned by Restaurant Brands, said the campaign was intended to be lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek.

“It was not our intention to make light of cybercrime,” a KFC spokeswoman said.

“Every advertisement was clearly identifiable as coming from KFC itself. As is the case with all our campaigns, we do not target children in our advertising.

“We recognise that cyber harm is a serious and growing problem globally and understand that the campaign’s theme may have been interpreted differently by some viewers. We regret if any part of the campaign has caused offence or concern.”

She said the company was reviewing all feedback “carefully”.

“We have already made adjustments to the campaign as part of our commitment to being a responsible advertiser. We are also continuing to monitor and assess future campaign activations.”

Asked for more specifics, she said KFC had ensured its content was classified as GXC (general except children’s programming). It had also “reviewed and pressure tested” its programmatic advertising campaign and, where possible, adjusted the “creative to be more product-focused and removed use of the Colonel”.

A TVNZ spokeswoman said the campaign had been running across various media outlets. The Herald has also featured the campaign.

“The campaign is different and provocative – that’s not a bad thing. Not all advertising will be for every person, and that’s okay,” the spokeswoman said.

“As a platform, we need to show advertising responsibly, though. This ad is GXC classified, so it’s airing in programming that doesn’t target children.

“We’re comfortable adults are able to understand the intended meaning. For TVNZ+ specific creative, we worked with KFC’s agency to adapt the visuals in a way that was appropriate for our streaming platform.”

Asked specifically what had been adapted, she said additional branding had been added to make the hacker identifiable as a KFC character.

Inside TVNZ’s 6pm newsreader decision

Melissa Stokes won a head-to-head battle with Daniel Faitaua to replace Simon Dallow as TVNZ’s 6pm weekday newsreader.

While several other staff were screen-tested by the state broadcaster, the decision on the weekday bulletin ultimately came down to Stokes or Faitaua.

Media Insider also understands that Faitaua, a father of three, did not put his name forward for the other two nights of the week, for personal reasons.

TVNZ hastily issued a statement yesterday afternoon that Jack Tame would be the “weekends” newsreader, after Media Insider was tipped off that the redoubtable Q+A host had received the nod.

Only one slight problem with that announcement – Tame will actually read the news on Fridays and Saturdays. So more ‘week-end’ than weekends.

Tame will also retain his Q+A role on Sundays, a critically important one for the state broadcaster, especially in an election year.

Stokes will work Sunday-Thursday.

Yesterday’s announcement all seemed a bit rushed, especially given Media Insider revealed way back in January that Dallow was likely to be leaving this year and then confirmed it three weeks ago.

TVNZ has had plenty of time to sort its succession planning, and its news and HR departments had plenty of time to liaise with the PR team.

Regardless of all that, TVNZ has a formidable new pairing at 6pm and – in Faitaua – an experienced and professional fill-in presenter.

Melissa stoked: ‘I’m quite a news nerd’

Melissa Stokes has paid tribute to the outgoing Simon Dallow, who finishes as 6pm newsreader in three weeks.

“The role, to me, is about maintaining a relationship with the audience, if you have that, the chances of creating trust are so much greater,” she told Media Insider in a statement.

“It’s hard (and amazing) to be taking over from Simon, the absolute consummate professional, who has guided us through some massive moments but one of the most important things I’ve learnt in this industry is you can only ever be yourself.”

She said the new role was a natural extension of her existing weekend position.

“I’m quite a news nerd and take preparations very seriously, so nothing will change there! I love getting stuck in, and out amongst it – I’m hoping being in the newsroom fulltime will mean I get to stretch the reporting muscles a bit more.”

She said her celebration of winning the role was “low-key”.

“I bought a really big piece of tiramisu and ate it in the car on the way home from work on Monday. Added to that, one of my boys had his tonsils out last week and had to go into Starship for a couple of nights, the night before the announcement … so there’s been a bit on this week.”

Tame, meanwhile, was also on childcare duty yesterday but told Media Insider via text last night that he loved his roles as host of Q+A and Newstalk ZB Saturday Mornings – it was extremely important, he said, that he was able to retain those roles alongside the newsreading responsibilities.

NZME, Stuff boss eye newspapers, websites

At least two parties are eyeing a potential acquisition of Stuff’s newspapers and paywalled websites such as the The Post and The Press – including NZ Herald owner NZME, Media Insider understands.

Perhaps more surprisingly, it is understood that another party interested in buying the Stuff Masthead Publishing division is its managing director, Joanna Norris.

The respected media leader is rumoured to be interested in emulating her boss, Stuff owner and chief executive Sinead Boucher, with a possible management buyout.

Boucher acquired Stuff for $1 from Nine Media in 2020 and, since then, has split the company into two: Stuff Digital, which operates the free Stuff news website, and Stuff Masthead Publishing, which runs the company’s newspapers and paywalled news websites such as The Post, The Press and Sunday Star-Times.

In July this year, Boucher announced she had sold 50% of Stuff Digital to Trade Me. She retained the other 50%.

NZME – which also owns Newstalk ZB and property platform OneRoof – told the NZX earlier this year that it had been in discussions with Stuff to buy the Masthead Publishing business, but that these talks had been paused while NZME faced a board overhaul.

“The strategic rationale for any transaction was the acceleration of OneRoof’s revenue and audience, particularly in Wellington and the South Island, and the ability to grow NZME’s total audience, customer base and profitability,” NZME’s NZX notice said at the time.

However, NZME said, Stuff had paused those earlier discussions in March, while it awaited the new composition of the NZME board.

“There is no certainty that NZME will re-engage in any discussions with Stuff or that, if such discussions occur, they will result in any transaction. NZME will continue to keep shareholders informed by market announcement in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations,” NZME told the NZX at the time.

Yesterday, an NZME spokeswoman told Media Insider: “As you’d expect, we don’t comment on rumour or speculation. As a listed company, we have continuous disclosure obligations, and we comply accordingly.”

Norris, meanwhile, referred Media Insider to Boucher.

Neither Boucher nor Stuff communications head Sarah Stuart responded to questions.

Troy Bowker buys property housing Stuff print presses

A former NZME shareholder with robust views on the state of media has made an intriguing move – supporters might say a masterstroke – by buying the Wellington building and property that houses Stuff’s newspaper printing press.

Caniwi Capital executive chairman Troy Bowker’s acquisition of the Petone property from Australia’s Nine Media means Stuff faces a costly dilemma: either move out in mid-2027 when the building lease expires – a huge cost, in that Bowker says Stuff would have to remove its printing press equipment and return the building to its original state – or agree to what is likely to be a substantially higher lease arrangement with the new owner.

Bowker, who helped lead a charge to overhaul NZME’s board earlier this year but has since sold out of the company, is a businessman who champions free speech and has been critical in the past of what he considers a left-wing media bias.

Bowker acquired the Bouverie St building, which Stuff has occupied for 35 years, from Australia’s Nine Media last month, in what he calls a commercially driven move. He said the price was confidential.

“It’s nothing to do with the media – it’s just purely a coincidence. Yes, I’ve got an interest in the media, but I’m not going to spend millions of dollars buying a property for that reason.”

Stuff’s lease is up on May 1 next year, before which the landlord must give 12 months’ notice, effectively giving Stuff until April 30, 2027, to either strike a new deal or move out.

Stuff, which prints The Post and other North Island papers at the plant, told Media Insider in July that it had a right of renewal on the lease, but Bowker said any such right had to be with the mutual agreement of all parties.

“We are currently working on plans to repurpose the 1.5-hectare site to its highest and best use from 1 May 2027, when Stuff’s lease expires,” he said.

“Under the terms of the existing lease, Stuff is responsible for removing its extensive printing plant and completing all remediation work by 30 April 2027.”

That is likely to be a massive cost – Media Insider understands some walls and part of the roof would need to be removed to extricate the printing presses.

“Stuff have expressed an interest to us in remaining as tenant after the lease ends on 1 May 2027,” said Bowker. “Caniwi Capital remains commercially driven in all our decisions and will continue to assess the most effective long-term use for this property.”

Bowker said the most likely option was that the building would be used for other purposes after May 1, 2027, but Caniwi did “remain open to discussions with Stuff at this time (and other parties) with regards to maximising the market value of this property”.

He reiterated that the acquisition of the site was a purely commercial move.

Neither Stuff chief executive Sinead Boucher nor Stuff communications head Sarah Stuart responded to Media Insider inquiries.

Bowker played a leading role in the overhaul of NZME’s board earlier this year, before selling his 3.15 million shares to businessman Jim Grenon.

Bowker has gone on to build his investment in Sky TV.

Grenon, meanwhile, now has 34,694,802 shares in NZME, representing a holding of just under 18.5%.

Screen Production Rebate boost

Major changes will be announced this morning to New Zealand’s Screen Production Rebate, the incentive scheme to attract more international film and TV projects.

At present, qualifying international productions can receive a 20% rebate, increased to 25% if a production meets additional qualifying criteria.

Media Insider understands the Government will announce changes this morning to be implemented from January that will lift New Zealand’s competitiveness against countries such as Australia, Britain and Canada.

This includes lowering the minimum spend for feature films to qualify for the rebate – from $15 million to $4m.

As well, it is understood the threshold for productions to access the extra 5% uplift will drop from $30m to $20m, to help attract more mid-budget productions.

It is understood the 5% uplift will also include post-production, digital and visual effects (PDV)-only projects.

Officials will also remove the cap on how much international productions can claim for “above the line” roles, such as director, producer, principal cast or screenwriter.

The changes are set to be announced by Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis in Auckland this morning. Media Insider will have full coverage and reaction.

Screen NZ International executive chairwoman Mel Turner said: “We welcome any changes to the Screen Production Rebate which make it easier and more compelling for studios and production companies to consider filming in New Zealand.

“We are grateful to the minister and MBIE [the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment] for taking on board the feedback from the international screen production sector and responding so promptly.

“Our industry survey conducted in July, together with other research and modelling, highlighted a sharp decline in production activity and underscored the urgent need for change to improve New Zealand’s international competitiveness.”

The organisation has previously cited specific examples of the economic benefit of international shows that were produced here, including Netflix’s Sweet Tooth: $6.91 was generated in GDP for every $1 rebated, with more than 1180 jobs and 950 New Zealand businesses directly benefiting, according to a study.

Briscoe ad agency update

New Zealand’s longest-running advertising character, the Briscoes Lady, is safe.

She will continue to be produced by Stanley St as the creative agency, but MBM has won the sought-after pitch to look after Briscoe’s media campaigns.

Until now, Stanley St has been looking after both sides, but Briscoe boss Rod Duke said the company had gone to market and liked what it had seen from MBM.

The Briscoes Lady – Tammy Wells – has been on New Zealand screens for 37 years, one of New Zealand’s most enduring and endearing TV characters.

“In terms of Tammy, really nothing changes,” said Duke.

Duke said he could not pinpoint the precise reasons for her success, but he is rapt.

“I wish I knew … if I knew, I’d be doing it in a lot of other bits of my business as well. It’s been a masterstroke, and I just have to figure out how I’ve done it. The general public won’t notice any difference.”

Kiwi reporter’s Times biography changes

A New Zealand journalist at the centre of a major blunder involving a mistaken identity may have left his role.

Former NZ Herald and Stuff journalist Bevan Hurley’s biography on The Times’ website now describes him as having worked as a journalist for the organisation in the past tense.

Hurley sent questions to an email address that he believed belonged to former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, asking him about this year’s mayoral campaign. He received answers to his questions, including surprising criticism of leading mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

Those responses led to an “exclusive” article on The Times website, under Hurley’s byline.

The only problem was that the man who sent Hurley those comments was Bill DeBlasio, a Long Island wine exporter.

The Times pulled the story immediately and apologised. The embarrassing error made big headlines in the US and UK.

Last week, Hurley’s biography on The Times stated, “Bevan Hurley is a senior reporter (US) for The Times and The Sunday Times, based in New York.”

Today, it states, “Bevan Hurley was a senior reporter (US) for the Times and the Sunday Times, based in New York.”

Hurley’s social media platforms continue to list him as working for the Times.

Neither he nor Times owner News Ltd has responded to Media Insider questions.

TVNZ reassures Bluey fans

Bluey has easily become the most popular show on TVNZ+, with just under 47 million streams in the 12 months to June 30.

That’s followed by The Rookie (23.33 million streams); 1News at Six (15.75 million); and Shortland Street (15.38 million).

So imagine the shock for some parents when a notice started appearing on Bluey season one and two episodes this week, saying they had just under four weeks left to watch the shows on TVNZ+.

TVNZ+ currently offers all three seasons of the Australian-made preschoolers’ cartoon show, which is based around a family of blue heeler dogs.

“As a parent – devastated,” said one Media Insider informant. “As a media watcher – a huge loss for TVNZ given the episodes had nearly 47 million streams.”

However, all is not what it seems. In the same week that TVNZ announced the departure of Simon Dallow, it is reassuring fans and parents that Bluey is not out the door.

“TVNZ+ has an automatic trigger when a licence period is due to come up, so viewers know the window they have to watch,” a TVNZ spokeswoman said.

“But parents (myself included) don’t need to fret because we’re working through renewing season one and two with the distributor BBC Australia at the moment.

“We’ve renewed all three seasons multiple times now and will continue to do so because of the show’s popularity, and we’ll definitely seek to license future seasons too when they come up!”

Bluey also screens on Sky TV’s Neon platform.

NZ on Air research released on Wednesday reveals Bluey is easily New Zealand’s most popular show for preschoolers.

Mentor scheme

A group set up to support Kiwi-Asian journalists and communications specialists has launched a mentorship scheme.

Kiwi-Asians in Media and Communications (Kaimac) said the new initiative would help connect Kaimac members and allow them to share knowledge and nurture talent.

Mentors listed on the Kaimac website include BusinessDesk editor Victoria Young, senior NZ Herald journalist Carolyne Meng-Yee and PR executive Chamanthie Sinhalage-Fonseka.

Kaimac has about 100 members; more details on the group and the mentorship scheme can be found here.

Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME, including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor, and has a small shareholding in NZME.