World’s Biggest Egg Hunt Hatches in New Zealand
MEDIA RELEASE
STRICTLY EMBARGOED
until
5am, 21 March
2014
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING….
The World’s Biggest Egg Hunt Hatches
in New Zealand
While Kiwis were sleeping, 100
giant eggs created by New Zealand artists were hidden across
the country in the early hours of this morning*, ready to be
discovered as part of The Whittaker’s Big Egg Hunt in
support of Starship.
Thanks to the handiwork of more than 70 volunteers, the works of art secretly popped up in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch overnight, allowing the public to take part in the hunt from today until 22 April.
Artists who have created eggs include Dick Frizzell, John Pule, Max Gimblett, Gregory O'Brien, Karl Maughan, David Trubridge, Nigel Brown, Seraphine Pick, John Reynolds, Michel Tuffery, Misery (aka Tanja Jade), Virginia King, Beck Wheeler, Hannah Jensen, Dame Trelise Cooper, Colin Mathura-Jeffree and Pebbles Hooper.
The Whittaker’s Big Egg Hunt (www.thebigegghunt.co.nz) not only offers great family entertainment hunting for the eggs, but also the opportunity to compete for the ultimate prize – a unique 340g 18ct Whittaker’s Gold Slab made by Partridge Jewellers.
There are several ways to enter to win: hunters need to either text in a unique code once they’ve found an egg in its location; download Whittaker’s new high spec mobile app (details at www.whittakersegghunt.co.nz) or buy Whittaker’s Fairtrade Creamy Milk Block, 50g Peanut Slabs or Easter-themed Creamy Milk Mini Slabs and enter via the details on the pack.
Whittaker’s is also committed to donating at least $150,000 to Starship by donating 10 cents from every iconic 50g Peanut Slab, 20 cents from every pack of its top selling Fairtrade Creamy Milk block and 20 cents from its Creamy Milk Easter Mini Slabs sold throughout the hunt.
The Whittaker’s Big Egg Hunt is the first campaign of its kind in the southern hemisphere. It will raise funds for the Starship Foundation, a charity supporting the national children’s hospital to provide world-leading care for almost 120,000 patient visits each year.
All 100 eggs, each a unique masterpiece, will be auctioned off for Starship – 80 of them on Trade Me at trade.me/bigegghuntnz, and 20 of them at a gala event in April.
Starship Foundation Chief Executive Brad Clark says, “We are a national hospital caring for children from right across the country, so we are pleased all New Zealanders can take part in The Whittaker’s Big Egg Hunt – whether they get out and about hunting the eggs or bid to own these stunning works of art or buy Whittaker’s specially-labelled products to help raise vital funds for Starship. The creativity that has gone into these eggs is extraordinary –from realism to abstract, to dinosaurs hatching, stainless steel sculpture, a bunny bi-plane and so much more. We are enormously grateful to the artists, sponsors, supporters and volunteers of The Whittaker’s Big Egg Hunt for their support of Starship.”
Holly Whittaker, Marketing Manager at Whittaker’s, says, “Whittaker’s is a family-owned company that is proud to support worthy causes such as Starship that make such a difference to New Zealanders’ lives.”
The Big Egg Hunt concept first came about in London in 2012. Since then the campaign has grown to include Dublin, and this year New York and New Zealand.
Information about The Whittaker’s Big Egg Hunt, including maps for Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, can be found at www.thebigegghunt.co.nz and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BigEggHuntNZ
ENDS
*Editor’s Note:
Footnote refers to early hours of 21 March
Key
Dates:
• Midnight – dawn 21 March:
100 giant eggs secretly hidden in locations in
Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch
• 21
March – 22 April: The Whittaker’s Big Egg Hunt
– New Zealand public out and about searching for 100 giant
eggs created by Kiwi artists and
designers.
• 21 March – 22 April: 80
of the eggs auctioned on Trade Me for Starship (bidding via
thebigegghunt.co.nz or
trade.me/bigegghuntnz)
• 16 April:
Gala dinner and auction of 20 eggs in support of Starship
(www.starship.org.nz/eggevent)
Supporters of The
Whittaker’s Big Egg Hunt:
In addition to the
very generous artists who have all provided their time and
talent to decorate the eggs, many organisations are
supporting the campaign in various ways.
These
include:
• Principal campaign sponsor,
Whittaker’s
• Logistics partner,
Mainfreight
• Auction partners Trade Me and
Webb’s
Campaign Sponsors:
• Auckland Art
Gallery
• Auckland Museum
• Autex
• Barfoot &
Thompson
• Below The Line
• Britomart
Group
• Café
Melba
• ColourWorx
• DFS
• DLA Phillips
Fox
• ECC Lighting and
Furniture
• Firth
• Flux
• Heart of the City
• Hippopotamus Restaurant &
Bar
• iHeartRADIO
• Laura Forlong
• Louis
Vuitton
• McKechnie
• Norcross Printing
Group
• NZ
Bus
• Ostro
• Republik
• Resene
• SKY
• The Edge
• The Moving
Company
• The Tannery
Numbers from The
Big Egg Hunt London 2012:
• 1 million hunters
at street level
• £1.5 million raised for two
charities
• Over 100,000 visitors per day to the final
display
• Two Guinness World Record titles
set
About the Starship
Foundation:
• Starship is New Zealand’s
national children’s hospital. There are nearly 120,000
patient visits to Starship Children’s Health every year by
children from all over New Zealand.
• The Starship
Foundation is a charity that raises funds so Starship
Children’s Health can better care for its young patients.
The Starship Foundation wants every New Zealand family to
have access to world-leading healthcare and experiences when
they need it most.
• The Starship Foundation raises up
to $10 million a year. Donations are extra to Government
funding and provide for initiatives such as Starship’s
National Air Ambulance Service which brings children from
all over New Zealand to Starship for life-saving care, as
well as refurbishing older wards, new technology and medical
equipment, vital research, boosted family support, staff
training and community outreach projects to keep children
out of hospital.
About
Whittaker’s:
• Established in New Zealand
over 100 years ago, Whittaker’s is the only major
chocolate manufacturer in New Zealand that ensures quality
by controlling the whole manufacturing process – from bean
to bar.
• With 100% of its operations in New Zealand,
Whittaker’s is proud to be an exporter of quality New
Zealand produce, as well as one of the largest employers in
the Wellington region.
• For the past two years in a
row, Whittaker’s has been voted New Zealand’s Most
Trusted
Brand.