John Oliver’s successful campaign to get the pūteketeke crowned Forest and Bird’s 'Bird of The Century' may be over, but the comedian isn’t done with his involvement in NZ's native bird scene.
Nope, he’s collaborated with Kiwi business Metal Bird to create a mini John Oliver that piggybacks proudly on their pūteketeke sculptures.
Plus, in a move that’s quite literally a win for the birds, 30% of the sales from these metallic masterpieces go straight to Forest and Bird’s conservation efforts.
During a recent episode of his show, Oliver said: "If you want one, with or without me on it, you can order a sculpture at this website right here. We've actually got one for everybody in our audience.”
Within 15 minutes of the episode airing, the Metal Bird website went crazy with orders from American viewers.
"We sat there, it went to air, we're looking at 15 people on our website in the states, then there's 50, then there's 200, then there's 600," Metal Bird creator Phil Walters told Newhub.
It’s not the only boost in donations Forest and Bird have seen since this year’s campaign.
The organisation's chief executive Nicola Toki revealed they had received an additional $600,000 worth of donations.
“People around the world and in New Zealand have put their money where their mouths are," she said via Newshub.
Oliver, with his "alarmingly aggressive" campaign, has turned out to be the ultimate PR rep for competition.
His own efforts to round up votes for the pūteketeke included ads across New Zealand dubbing the bird ‘Lord of the Wings’. He also revealed he put up call-to-vote billboards in Mumbai, Tokyo, Paris, London, Brazil’s Ipanema Beach and even Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Oliver also dressed as the pūteketeke for an appearance on 'The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon'.
With over 350,000 votes flocking in from 195 different countries, this year saw the most amount of votes the bird election has ever seen since it began in 2005.
