Friday, July 01, 2005

The Kiwi Understatements

For many years the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation would not allow any superlatives in advertising so advertisers invented descriptions: soap powder washed whiter than white (because they weren't allowed to say whitest) and peas were fresher than fresh. This policy struck a big rock when an airline which had been proved by the aeronautical industry to be the world's largest was not allowed to say so on radio and television in New Zealand. So they pulled all their commercials saying 'We won't pay for advertising which does not allow a factual statement.'

Max Cryer, MORE CURIOUS QUESTIONS, Harper Collins, 2003, p.18.