An Ashley Bloomfield COVID-19 announcement being remixed into a viral music video cost taxpayers $40,000, but many insist it was "well worth the spend".
Details of the Government's 'Unstoppable Summer' safety advertising campaign were released to Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act.
New Zealand's Director-General of Health featured in a video that focused on "promoting the core public health behaviours" to a "younger demographic" at "key events across New Zealand", documents obtained by Newstalk ZB stated, according to NZME.
The dubstep remix of Bloomfield's messaging about how to keep safe amid the pandemic included repetitive phrases like "wash, sanitise, scan, Bluetooth on" alongside graphics of the health official shooting lasers out of his eyes to destroy the virus.
Social media users had a mixed reaction when the cost of the video was revealed on Friday. Among the negative comments made by people unhappy at the video's cost was one Twitter user stating: "It's easy to spend when it's not your money. This Government is good at that."
However, many of the responses have been that it was "money well spent".
"Still cheaper than a referendum on a flag change that no one really wanted... oh and more useful," one tweet read.
"This video had 105,000 people dancing together at festivals in NZ, while 46 million people worldwide watched from various states of lockdown," another offered.
"Summer was priceless."
One person noted that "to produce any video for $40k is an absolute steal", saying Aotearoa owed a "debt of gratitude" to everyone involved in making the clip.
"So Ashley Bloomfield is the target today?" another Twitter user asked.
"I would like to thank him and his team, for giving me and my family our last Christmas and new year with a dying family member. Forever grateful."
"Please stop trying to find something negative to say about one of the best COVID responses in the world," another wrote.
One person commented that seeing the video played at music festivals and gigs like the Six60 Saturdays concerts reminded them to be cautious and encouraged them to wash and sanitise their hands more.
The 'Make Summer Unstoppable' campaign also includes television commercials encouraging Kiwis to stay home if they're sick or avoid 'stopping summer' by forgetting to wash their hands. Stan Walker and Rob Ruha star in one of the videos, where they each scan a QR code at the beach.
