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Story: Atheism and secularism

Tui Christmas billboard, 2008

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Tui Christmas billboard, 2008

This Tui beer advertising billboard went up in Auckland and other New Zealand locations in December 2008. It drew mixed responses from religious leaders. Some said it made a good point and encouraged people to think about the original meaning of Christmas, but others felt it was in bad taste. The billboard provoked 86 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority – more than for any other advertisement that year. Complainants typically thought it offensive to Christians, or disliked the link between God and alcohol. Dominion Breweries withdrew the billboard before the authority could rule on it.

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Bay of Plenty Times

by Mark McKeown

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Atheism and secularism – An increasingly secular country, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/26206/tui-christmas-billboard-2008 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 23 March 2011.