05 February 2012
A ‘mallow’ view of nationhood.
18 August 2006
Comment: Te Waha Nui Online
As our national identity is changing, Marc Checkley contemplates what it is to be a Kiwi, and how the onslaught of Australian influence is leaving us in their shadow.
New Zealand’s cultural identity has a lot to contend with.
We are in constant flux over what it is to be a Kiwi.
With an unrelenting bombardment of British, American and Australian popular culture infiltrating Godzone, forging ahead with our own collective identity has been a hard battle to win.
This week I was perusing the shelves of my local supermarket and in desperate need of a sweet treat I found myself in the biscuits section.
Scanning the rows of cookies, slices and other sugary edibles I chanced upon a packet of Marshian’s, Arnott’s version of the humble Mallowpuff.
On closer inspection, I was horrified to see that not only was an Australian company taking on New Zealand’s favourite treat, but these insipid imposters were undercutting our puffs by 73 cents!
Why, after all these years of peace, does Arnott’s feel a need to invade our shores with a competing puff?
You may think I’m making mountains out of marshmallows but where is all this leading?
New Zealand has always been in the shadow of our Australian cousins and it has been a constant struggle to expunge the thought that we are the seventh state of “Terra-Australis”.
With the re-branding of many of Auckland’s malls into Westfield Shopping Towns, leaving the city looking somewhat lego-fied, one could be excused for thinking we’re just a replica of suburban Sydney or plastic fantastic Surfers Paradise.
In 2002 the Dominion Post gallantly announced that we had finally won the battle of the pavlova.
The dessert is credited to the ladies of the Wellington Terrace Congregational Church who published their recipe for meringue cake in Terrace Tested Recipes in 1927.
Eight years before a woman’s group in Perth laid claim to it. This unfortunately did not put an end to our trans-Tasman battles.
It is still commonplace for musicians or actors, deemed mildly successful here, to be inevitably snapped up by those across the ditch and claimed as their own.
Just for the record, Russell Crowe was all their doing.
I’m all for free trade and a global marketplace but some lines should not be crossed, some cultural icons should not be contested, some puffs should not be popped.
There’s nothing mellow about this puff, Kiwi products are being pushed to the nether regions of our supermarket shelves or sold off to the most cost-efficient manufacturer.
Today it’s Aussie-puffs, is it hokey- pokey ice cream from Abu Dhabi tomorrow?
We need to hold our Mallowpuffs high and fight the scourge of these alien invaders. No matter how they may undercut New Zealand’s original teacakes.
These ooey-gooey-chocolaty-puffed treats are ours and we need to send these Marshians packing – back from whence they came.
Is the further corrosion of nationhood worth a saving of 73 cents?
