New Zealand (CU)_After the Prime Minister asked for their removal because they violated cabinet rules regarding product advertising, a New Zealand minister was forced to edit her anti-racism social media messages that featured a well-known brand of chocolate.
In honour of the impending Mori language week, Te Wiki o Te Reo Mori, Green Party MP Marama Davidson uploaded a video of herself on Instagram on Monday holding five blocks of Whittakers creamy milk chocolate that had recently been rebranded with the Mori translation Miraka Kirmi. She shared pictures on Facebook and Twitter as well.
Since its announcement earlier this month, the company’s decision to alter the name has drawn both racist criticism and expressions of support.
Although she didn’t care for the flavour, Davidson claimed in her video that she still purchased the bars because “it is the proper thing to do to support te wiki o te reo Mori, to support te reo Mori being everywhere and anyplace it needs to go.”
The cabinet rules manual prohibits ministers from endorsing or promoting a good or service, and on Tuesday Davidson—the minister for the prevention of family and sexual violence—received a harsh warning about her video from the highest office.
The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, told the media on Tuesday in the afternoon that it was obvious that Davidson intended to encourage the use of te reo Mori.
Ardern took no issue with the promotion of te reo Māori. “Here we have companies embracing what is unique about New Zealand and there are a range of companies and brands taking those steps, and I think it is all part of our growth and evolution as a country.”
Ardern said it was up to the Cabinet office to remedy the situation but advised Davidson to remove the post.
“You can see the intent here was the promotion of te reo Māori but we do have to make sure that we uphold a really clear standard on promoting products,” Ardern said.
Davidson was initially defiant and told reporters she would not remove her posts because she was “promoting organisations who are stepping up to promote te reo Māori and … pushing back against the racism that arose by something as simple, as beautiful as more use of te reo Māori.”
