John Oliver's 'alarmingly aggressive' marketing campaign labored. Pūteketeke is the 'Fowl of the Century'.

It needed to occur, and occur is precisely what it did: After a passionate marketing campaign from John Oliver, the noble Pūteketeke has been topped “Fowl of the Century” in New Zealand’s Forest and Fowl ballot.

The Final Week Tonight host launched the marketing campaign — which he himself described as “alarmingly aggressive” — throughout his present in early November, dedicating a big chunk of the episode to extolling the virtues of the Pūteketeke and urging the general public to vote for the fowl.

“I do not simply need the Pūteketeke to win,” mentioned Oliver throughout a monologue. “I need it to win within the largest landslide within the historical past of this magnificent competitors.”

With a view to garner as many votes as doable, Oliver launched an internet site, paid for advertising billboards in international locations the world over urging individuals to vote, and appeared on The Tonight Present dressed as a Pūteketeke. “We thought it was an impressive fowl,” he defined when Fallon requested him why he’d chosen it. “There’s solely a thousand of them in New Zealand.”

Clearly, Oliver’s technique labored. The Forest and Fowl’s winner announcement on Wednesday mentioned there had been a record-breaking 350,000+ verified votes within the contest, inflicting a crash within the voting verification system that led to a two-day delay within the Pūteketeke being topped. Of those votes, the Pūteketeke acquired over 290,000, whereas the runner-up — the North Island brown kiwi, which Oliver beforehand described as “a rat carrying a toothpick” – acquired slightly below 13,000. New Zealand’s incoming prime minister Christopher Luxon congratulated Oliver on X, calling it a “big outcome”.

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The host hasn’t commented on the victory but, however Final Week Tonight‘s votethisbird.com web site has been up to date to show a thanks message.

Clearly, whereas Oliver will not be the “meaty oak tree” that Adam Driver is, he is nonetheless an simple pressure to be reckoned with.