MEDIA RELEASE

7 April 2016

Queenstown Council Fining Wicked Campers

Family First NZ is welcoming the decision by the Queenstown District Council to fine Wicked Campers $300 when their vehicle displays offensive slogans.

“That will be quite a few $300 fines. We’ll be encouraging our supporters to watch out for and report offending signage on Wicked Campers,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“Wicked Campers are guilty of giving New Zealand families the one-fingered wave. But families and now councils are now fighting back. It’s about protecting children and protecting families from highly offensive and harmful messaging. It’s also about businesses showing some social responsibility.”

Council told Mountain Scene: "..(W)hen we have evidence of a sign-written camper that we believe is sexually explicit, lewd or otherwise offensive, we will issue a $300 infringement. That will either be when one of our routine parking patrols finds a vehicle that breaches our rules, or we receive a complaint from the public."

According to the Rotorua Daily Post, a van load of Australian tourists in a Wicked Camper covered a slogan on their van with tape. They said the slogan was offensive and they did not want to be associated with it or allow children to see it either.

And family camp owners are also targeting Wicked Campers which have offensive slogans in an attempt to get Wicked Campers to clean up their act.

Family First launched a campaign in February designed to pressure Wicked Campers in to removing offensive advertisements and messages. Families have made complaints to Queenstown, Invercargill, Taupo, Timaru, Christchurch, Matamata / Piako, and Thames local councils already, with further complaints to come. Family First has also contacted Disney, Coke, and Pepsi regarding images used by Wicked Campers that bring their brands into disrepute.

An independent survey of 1,000 NZ’ers in 2013 found that 72% of respondents supporting large public billboards being G-rated suitable for children to view. Strongest support came from women. Only 21% opposed.

ENDS

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