Kiwi humour lauded after hilarious video about NZ disappearing off world maps
Rhys Darby and Jacinda Ardern try to solve the mystery.
Did somebody cancel New Zealand? Because it isn't showing up on a bunch of maps, and Kiwis are starting to get concerned.
Tourism New Zealand made a video as part of a new promotion campaign, highlighting the hashtag #GetNZontheMap, featuring Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and actor Rhys Darby discussing the absence of New Zealand on certain maps.
New Zealand was nowhere to be seen on maps displayed around the world at places like the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington DC, the UN, Starbucks, Ikea, Central Park Zoo, and even a tablecloth from UK retailer John Lewis.
Known for his deadpan humour, Darby's bumbling on-screen interaction with Ardern has got the world laughing.
Rhys Darby and Jacinda Ardern star in the Tourism New Zealand video.
READ MORE:
* 'New Zealand, where the bloody hell are you'
* New Zealand is being left off world maps
* New Zealand left off the map on John Lewis tablecloth
* We've been forgotten from world's maps
The New York Times reported on the video, saying: "Ardern is on the case, if only reluctantly."
WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP FORGETTING US?
Darby wanted to get to the bottom of the mysterious case of the missing New Zealands, and suggested that the likeliest contenders to wipe New Zealand from the map were: Australians, who (probably) wanted to steal our tourists; the English, who (probably) wanted to do away with the All Blacks; or the French, who were (probably) jealous of New Zealand's booming wine industry.
Actor Rhys Darby investigates the "next great conspiracy", New Zealand getting left off world maps.
But he also reminded Ardern of New Zealand's peculiar outline.
"We are quite a fiddly-looking shaped country, a bit like a half-eaten lamb chop. Perhaps people are just leaving us off thinking we're a mistake."
"You might be onto something," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern tells Rhys Darby.
PEOPLE LOVE OUR WEIRD HUMOUR
Kiwis are well-known for having deadpan humour, and some comedians have become internationally renowned in part because of it.
The Flight of the Conchords enjoyed massive success worldwide because of the dry wit of actors like Darby, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie.
In 2015, Clement said New Zealand's TV companies had shown no interest in their work, but the group eventually attracted the attention of HBO, who offered them the chance to create a series in the US from 2007 to 2009.
- Stuff
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