Can a country have a color scheme?

It sounds crazy, but I think that New Zealand might have a color scheme. Either that or they are all hiring the same advertising agency.

Across the spectrum of businesses, from the kiwi versions of e-bay and amazon.com to banks and insurance companies there’s a thread running through their branding that projects a youthful, modern image that seems at odds with the reality of life on the coast. See, before I arrived here I was told by several folks that coming to the west coast was like stepping back in time several decades. In many ways this has been true.

Take the sinks for example. When I was looking for a place to live, I found virtually nowhere with the modern-day single-faucet style of sinks. Everywhere is still operating on the older separated hot/cold faucet regime. It sucks. Truly. My mom thinks of them as nostalgic, as this is what she grew up with. I think of this as the exquisite 'scald or freeze' method of torture. Not to be the princess and the pea here, but to wash my hands or do dishes, I have to plug the sink, and run a science experiment until the water approaches a reasonable temperature to put my hands in. I know, it’s not a major hardship in life, but it just seems to me that the world’s modern features are passing us by down here. And it lends to the stepping back in time theory of coastal life.

Why else do I think I’m living in the past? Well, we still have door-to-door salesmen here. Didn’t they die out with Willy Loman? I guess not – as folks stop in our office with some frequency. The OfficeMax sales rep came through with a hot special on office chairs, conveniently timed to when I started and was looking for just such an item. (The nearest OfficeMax is over in Christchurch, three hours away, so trying out different chairs involved weeks of waiting for delivery of trial chairs...) Then there was the unfortunately nick-named “toilet lady” who came through on her South Island circuit to let us know about the latest and greatest in hybrid flush toilet tank systems. A strange one to me is the periodic delivery of a pile of books to a table in our conference room. This is a completely random selection of cookbooks, kids books, calendars, whatever, which are left with an envelope for orders and cash. Next delivery day if there is an order, they take the money, leave the book and a new stack of a dozen or so random treats for us to consider.

But my favorite roving salespeople so far have been this pair of 20-something engineering students who stopped by a week or so ago, making the rounds to the city government offices, highway department and us, at DOC. They were quite snazzy, with one wearing a tie and sweater, the other dressed like a cowboy heading out for a night on the town – with fancy silk shirt, tight jeans and snake-leather shoes. They dropped in to sell us – trash cans. For real. They hadn’t quite designed their new trash cans yet, they had no brochures or drawings to share. They were just curious if we’d be interested. After letting them know we support a pack-it-in pack-it-out ethic and therefore avoid having trash cans in most of our sites, I put them in touch with the fellas who collect the trash where we do have trash cans to see if there were features we might want them to include in their revolutionary new designs. Far be it from me to squelch their entrepreneurial spirit.

Another way the coast is a bit behind is in the commercial sector. Greymouth pretty much shuts down after 5 on work days, and by noon on Saturday. Don’t even try to do much on a Sunday here. Granted some of the restaurants and the grocery stores are open a bit later, and the library keeps long hours until 8 pm one night a week, but overall it does feel a lot like Mayberry here.

So – how does all this relate to the color scheme? Well, when I first arrived here, it was a major shift from big city, big office, to small town, small office. The pace slowed down. I really was entering Mayberry, in a way – not just the town, but the time zone. But at the same time, I was struck by brand logos for companies here that were full of lower case fonts and bright monochrome colors. To me, they felt new, young, fresh, modern. I’m not sure why that is – ask a marketing specialist – the folks who design color schemes at McDonald’s to make you want to eat and leave quickly. Whatever the reason these colors and fonts made me feel this way, there were so many that fit the pattern that I started to take note.

It’s not as if I pay attention to branding or advertising consciously, though if you ask anyone I’ve ever been on a road trip with, they’ll tell you I read signs everywhere. And yes, I’ve been taken with several adverts here in NZ, even shared them with you on this blog. That’s because they were funny. Others that I’ve seen here have outright pissed me off – the one for a product that will make a woman’s underarms more attractive to her partner comes to mind, as if people should be worrying about that in this crazy world.

I suppose that the youthful, modern feel of the all the branding struck me because they imply we’re in the 21^st century, when so many of the signs here in Greymouth were telling me the opposite. Is there really a national color scheme trying to convince me or others that kiwi culture is modern? No. But having picked up on this pattern, I’m going to keep noticing more examples. I can’t really help myself. And as I wander down the street this afternoon (it’s Saturday here as I write this), when I see the Kiwibank and AMI insurance storefronts – they'll be closed. I'll feel both connected to and conscious of the distance of the modern world that exists over the mountains and elsewhere in NZ. Here in my little town, I’ll content myself with stunning views and friendly folks. And perhaps soon, spiffy new trash cans.

Things I love about NZ

Sometimes it’s the little things in life that make me happy. Like a good pair of scissors. A phone call from a friend. Snuggling under the covers and going back to sleep as I listen to the sound of rain on my tin roof. Beyond the beautiful scenery, the clean green image, and the feeling that I’m living in Middle Earth itself, there are lots of little things that are endearing NZ to me. First are the things that make NZ feel like a compassionate place, a civilized place. Take the grocery store parking lot, where there are designated parking spots near the front door for families with kids, or perhaps, based on the graphic, it’s for those expecting kids. I’m not sure. Either way, I don’t park there.

Another way I find NZ fosters compassion is the right hand rule in driving – basically this requires you to let others turn across your lane of traffic if you’re also turning. Imagine you are driving to the grocery store. Or simply approaching an intersection where you plan to turn right (for those who drive on the right – here we drive on the left, so it’s the opposite). As you approach what will be an easy right turn, you see others trying to turn left across your lane. Well, here, under those circumstances, you would be required to let them cross in front of you, before you turn, even if you are in a designated right turn lane. How civilized. Imagine the reduction in road rage, with people making it easier, rather than harder for others to get where they’re trying to go?

Then there are some fun kiwi-speak terms that I find endearing. One that caught my attention early on was how they verbalize internet addresses. Just go to “Dub dub dub dot” whatever. I’m also quite amused by the way they refer to groups of people when ‘flicking’ them an e-mail. I’ve heard groups of guys referred to fellas and lads. One person I get group e-mails from addresses us rather bluntly as “People”. But my personal favorite was one from a friend in the office who wrote to us all as “chaps and chappesses.” She’s from England, if that helps explain it in any way? I suppose my referring to groups of people as ‘ya’ll’ or ‘folks’ or ‘gang’ is just as endearing (or strange) to them.

Another endearing habit I’ve noticed is the inappropriate reading material I’ve seen in several small restaurants and cafes. By inappropriate I mean – wrong publication for the wrong audience. In several places I’ve eaten – including my favorite Indian place here in town where I’m now a regular – they have a stack of trade journals out for folks to read. Admittedly, if I go somewhere for takeaway I might appreciate some reading material while they prepare my meal. Perhaps an issue of Forest and Bird, or NZ Geographic, the local paper or even North and South. But reading up on the latest trends in cash registers in Hospitality? No thanks. Do I really want to learn how to open my own franchise, or get a product comparison of commercial espresso machines, or learn the actual price of tea in China by reading Tea and Coffee while waiting for my moccacino? Not really. I’m not sure why they think I would, but I find it quite a kick that they do…

Then there’s the habit so many people have of walking around bare foot. Mind you – it’s just coming out of winter here, not the lazy days of summer. Yet I’ve seen moms with kids in tow, teenagers, and regular ol’ adults strolling in and out of shops, grocery stores, everywhere – all bare foot. I’m not sure why it’s such a big deal in the US, but it’s just not allowed there in so many places. A friend here at work told me he was told to leave a grocery store in the US because he was barefooted. I always assumed it was a health code thing – though why I’m not sure. Would you eat off the floor in a grocery store? Isn’t most everything packaged (or over-packaged) so there’s no worry about germs? The risk of stepping on broken glass was the reason my friend was given. I think the solution there is to SWEEP IT UP. Oh well. That worry seems not to have made its way here, so people stroll around as they see fit. In fact my friend told me most of the kids in his elementary school ran around barefoot. Bravo, I say.

All of these things amuse me. But the thing that I find most endearing about New Zealand is its ability to not take itself too seriously. I get this sense both from talking with people, and from the media. The epitome of this is seen in a national campaign on by the local Automobile Association to come up with the 101 best things about NZ. They’re planning a TV show and a publicity campaign based on the results. Right now they’re having a think about it, as they say here, by asking the public to share what they love about NZ. They’ve got a wonderful commercial on that you have to go watch. (Click here, then click on the AA logo at the bottom of the page, where it says “AA 101”.) It illustrates perfectly their ability to adore their country and laugh at it, at the same time. There’s the beautiful scenery, mixed in with the local folk and strange sites. They go on and on about New Zealand, with tongue firmly in cheek. “As beautiful as a toilet and as green as the kids after a coastal road… We live in the best country in the world – well, for miles anyway.” At the end, the announcer, all choked up, says “I love you New Zealand.” I’m starting to agree.

Just one more reason to love NZ...