Vodafone CEO defends ‘racist’ name change on Twitter

Vodafone NZ chief executive Jason Paris has taken to Twitter to defend the name change.

delivered

Vodafone NZ chief executive Jason Paris has taken to Twitter to defend the name change.

It should have been a party night for Vodafone chief executive Jason Paris after the telco announced it would undergo a rebrand to become One New Zealand.

Instead, Paris sat in the murky depths of Twitter Wednesday night, trying to defend the fact that he and his team apparently were unaware that a similar name had already been used by a far-right group.

“One NZ has landed exceptionally well. 100% awesome that we are reinvesting the Voda brand license $ back in NZ, and that One NZ stands for the best of NZ (diversity, inclusion, trust, innovation etc) In the end we will not be judged by the name but by the actions that we take. That’s our focus,” he posted on Twitter.

Vodafone announced on Wednesday that it rebrand as One New Zealand early next year as part of the ongoing transformation, and the move would save millions of dollars a year in branding costs.

READ MORE:
* Emily in Paris image of Ukrainian shoplifting is ‘insulting’, culture minister complains to Netflix
* Kiwi companies show their colors in bad week for ignorance and racism
* Adding the love factor as a telephone directory provider Yellow shifts to digital focus

Among the tweets Paris responded to was one from BusinessDesk tech editor Ben Moore, who said Paris told him the first time he heard the name One NZ had a negative history was after the announcement on Wednesday.

A New Zealand

The telco changes name.

Said it was now ready and would work to redefine what One NZ meant, and push for recognition of the benefits of diversity. I can’t understand how the branding agency missed this,” Moore said.

And others on Twitter felt the same.

“Looked good with who? Aside from comparisons to the cotcases in the literal One New Zealand and Australia’s One Nation, the phrase “One New Zealand” is inherently racist. [sic] and has been a dog whistle for years,” said author Naomi Arnold.

“Looked good with who? A NZ is terrible. History matters and OneNZ doesn’t say diversity, inclusion, trust and innovation. It says the opposite. It’s a real shame. People will see it and think that a regressive political party is not a progressive business,” said another.

The name change will take effect next year.

delivered

The name change will take effect next year.

“I judge you by your decision to stand behind these horrible people. I refuse to believe that neither you, your branding agency, nor any of your communications people googled your new name before launching it,” another tweeted.

One NZ is a now-defunct political party that opposed Treaty of Waitangi Settlements and wild maori seats in Parliament and the Waitangi Tribunal abolished.

The name is also used by the far-right organization the One New Zealand Foundation, which opposes the return of land to Māori under the Treaty of Waitangi, a document it claims is fraudulent.