Wild Idea – Why Has No One Thought Of This Before?

Wild Idea – Why Has No One Thought Of This Before?

The winner of the national Wild Ideas competition, Dane Straker, has beaten nearly 2,000 wild and wacky entries with his revolutionary idea for painless waxing.

Straker, a 23-year-old from Auckland, developed a wild idea for a wax with a topical anaesthetic in it to make waxing a totally pain-free experience.

Vodafone New Zealand launched the search for the most innovative idea in New Zealand in June, and entries from across the country poured in.

Ideas ranged from Meatbix to flushable toilet rolls, to fireproof photo albums.

Lynley Kirk-Smith, general manager of Vodafone communications and sponsorship, judged the final entries with the head of Creative HQ and a member of Incubators New Zealand, Mark Blumsky.

“What we really liked about Dane’s idea was that it is really simple and it immediately made you think – why has no one thought of this before?” says Blumsky.

“The level of creativity and ingenuity has been phenomenal. For us, this competition has been about nurturing ideas and saying anything is possible” says Kirk-Smith.

Straker says he was inspired by an article he read on the internet about a New York spa that hired anaesthetists for patients.

“It just seemed so obvious – why hire an anaethetist when you could put a topical anaesthetic in the wax to make it an entirely pain free experience.”

Straker is currently studying a diploma in business at AUT and is about to start a new job in logistics with an Auckland company.

The prize includes a trip anywhere in the world that inspires him to value of $8,000, plus $2,000 spending money, $1,000 Vodafone airtime and $2,000 worth of development with his local incubator.

Each region in New Zealand has its own business incubator, which helps get fledging companies started.

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