NZ Herald and M&C Saatchi, Auckland behind parody news brand NZ Notworth News campaign

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APN Online, publishers of leading news site nzherald.co.nz, has revealed that they are behind the satirical news brand NZ Notworth News which entered the market two weeks ago. The NZ Notworth News team features controversial front man Rock Stone, opinionated U.S sports reporter Chad Pennington, the passionate Erika Wanamaker, British newshound Valerie Hague, the very digital Dwayne Stevens and gorgeous weather presenter TreAnne Chalmers.

The campaign, which had people speculating it was part of the FOUR launch or a new comedy show for TV2 was devised by APN Online’s creative agency, M&C Saatchi, Auckland.

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Says M&C Saatchi, Auckland’s Aussie expat creative director Dave King (left): “A lot of Kiwis read or hear a news story and accept that it is true, without putting a reality check over it. Yet look at many of the ‘news’ providers available to the New Zealand public and you quickly realise that they have credibility issues. Some are fluffy, others sensationalise, while there are a bundle that add a huge right wing spin. With this campaign we’re taking real news stories, then having the NZ Notworth News team apply their particular flaw to it. After people read or watch that story they are directed through to the real story on nzherald.co.nz, highlighting how easy it is to get flawed news unless you go to a trusted source.

Says NZ Herald general manager, Spencer Bailey: “nzherald.co.nz has a reputation for being the most trusted New Zealand news source online. By forming an entire news team that parodies the other kinds of news available to the New Zealand public, we were able to highlight the quality of our content and that not all news is created equal – and have some fun along the way.

“nzherald.co.nz offers award-winning journalism in a trusted environment, but we also believe that original and innovative ideas are the best way to bring about solutions that work – whether those ideas are for us, or our advertisers. We wanted this campaign to highlight that as well.”

From Monday 21 February, the NZ Notworth News team will be putting their spin on the latest news over the next month, with articles and videos being updated daily on nznotworthnews.co.nz