Air NZ’s New Mugs Support The Auld Mug Campaign

Issued: 30 January, 2003

AIR NEW ZEALAND’S NEW MUGS SUPPORT THE AULD MUG CAMPAIGN

More than 600,000 New Zealanders will get the chance to back Team New Zealand’s America’s Cup defence over the next six weeks thanks to Air New Zealand’s latest piece of high flying Kiwiana – the black ExpressMate mug.

A total of 600,000 special edition black mugs will be carried on the airline’s domestic Express Class service. Matt black and printed with an image of the America’s Cup trophy on one side and the ExpressMate logo on the other, a band stuck across the top of the mug links the Auld Mug with New Mug.

Described recently by a media arts writer as a “welcome note of sophistication in no-frills air travel”, the ExpressMate mugs are winning their way into popular Kiwi culture, fulfilling the critic’s prediction that the “sleek, colourful and tactile” mugs could quickly become collectibles.

Among frequent flyers scooping up ExpressMates, a team of Wellington information technology experts now have an office collection of mugs in their four original colours (teal, white, clear and blue) and now in black.

Project leader Peter Small, who works for US-based Oracle Corporation, commented: “They’re a great idea – a novelty that’s got some practical use.
The mug is on its way to being a piece of Kiwiana if Air New Zealand continues being clever in using them to commemorate key events in our lives such as the America’s Cup.”

New Mug Meets Auld Mug…..2

A community group has asked for 2,000 recycled mugs by September for an annual conference while some customers have told cabin crew they are collecting America’s Cup mugs for relatives in the UK. The Department of Conservation has also expressed an interest in using them for staff.

Air New Zealand’s Chief Operating Officer Andrew Miller added: “We hope all our passengers will take their special ExpressMate mugs off the aircraft and use them to back Team New Zealand. As a commemorative piece of Kiwiana, we’re working on plans to use ExpressMate to mark some other important events in New Zealand sporting and cultural life.”

Latest airline figures show up to 40% of mugs are being taken off the aircraft for use at home, the bach and the beach.

The remaining mugs are recycled for re-use on Express Class.

ENDS

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