Summarised by Centrist
Centrist Publishing says it is prepared to respond to dozens of formal complaints after advertisements for Jacinda: The Untold Stories aired during Jacinda Ardern’s appearance on The Graham Norton Show on TVNZ 2.
The placement, timing and tone of the ads prompted an immediate backlash and flurry of complaints submitted to regulators.
Critics accused the broadcaster and publisher of poor judgement, bias and opportunism.
The advertisements, which promoted the book’s bestseller status under the tagline ‘The Real Story’, screened multiple times during Ardern’s interview and again later in the evening.
Broadcaster Moana Maniapoto posted while the programme was still on air: “Wow. A rare tuning into TV2 and caught Jacinda Ardern on the Graham Norton show. The ad breaks showed adverts for the unauthorised biography by David Cohen….twice. Bizarre. PS Think it ended up 4-6 advert screenings.”
Separate posts attracted thousands of reactions, while discussion on Reddit’s /newzealand forum intensified calls for formal complaints.
One former television producer wrote: “Doing a broadcasting standards complaint,” while another urged: “Everyone make a complaint to the broadcasting authority, don’t moan here, make a difference.” Others went further, calling for boycotts of retailers or coordinated pressure on TVNZ’s social media pages.
Following the controversy, Jacinda: The Untold Stories climbed the Amazon Kindle bestseller rankings, reaching number one in two categories, just behind Ardern’s own memoir.
