Conservation group Forest And Bird on Wednesday introduced that Oliver’s favoured water chicken, the puteketeke, had gained after the comic went all-out in a humorous marketing campaign for the chicken on his HBO present Last Week Tonight.
Vote checkers in New Zealand had been so overwhelmed by Oliver’s overseas interference they needed to postpone naming the profitable chicken for 2 days.
Usually billed Bird of the Year, the annual occasion by conservation group Forest And Bird is held to lift consciousness in regards to the plight of the nation’s native birds, a few of which have been pushed to extinction.
This yr, the competition was named Bird of the Century to mark the group’s centennial.
Oliver found a loophole within the guidelines, which allowed anyone with a sound electronic mail tackle to solid a vote.
He had an advert erected for The Lord Of The Wings in New Zealand’s capital Wellington.
Oliver additionally put up adverts in Paris, Tokyo, London, and Mumbai, India, and had a aircraft with a banner fly over Ipanema Beach in Brazil.
And he wore an outsized chicken costume on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show.
“After all, this is what democracy is all about,” Oliver mentioned on his present.
“America interfering in foreign elections.”
Forest And Bird didn’t instantly launch the ultimate vote tally on Wednesday however mentioned the group obtained greater than 350,000 verified votes, greater than six instances the earlier document of 56,700 votes in 2021.
It mentioned Oliver’s “high-powered” marketing campaign briefly crashed its voting verification system.
“It’s been pretty crazy, in the best possible way,” chief govt Nicola Toki instructed The Associated Press earlier than the winner was introduced.
New Zealand is uncommon in that birds developed because the dominant animals earlier than people arrived.
“If you think about the wildlife in New Zealand, we don’t have lions and tigers and bears,” Ms Toki mentioned.
Despite practically 9 of each 10 New Zealanders now residing in cities or cities, she added, many retain a deep love of nature.
“We have this intangible and extraordinarily powerful connection to our wildlife and our birds,” Ms Toki mentioned.
The contest has survived earlier controversies.
Election scrutineers in 2020 found about 1,500 fraudulent votes for the little noticed kiwi.
And two years in the past, the competition was gained by a bat, which was allowed as a result of it was thought-about a part of the chicken household by indigenous Maori.
This yr, the organisers mentioned they eradicated extra fraudulent votes, together with 40,000 solid by a single person for the jap rockhopper penguin.
Ms Toki mentioned that when the competition started in 2005, they’d a complete of 865 votes, which they thought-about an excellent success.
She mentioned the earlier document vote depend was damaged inside a few hours of Oliver launching his marketing campaign.
Ms Toki mentioned Oliver contacted the group earlier this yr asking if he might champion a chicken.
They had instructed him to go for it, not realising what was to return.
“I was cry laughing,” Ms Toki mentioned when she watched Oliver’s phase.
Oliver described how the puteketeke, which quantity lower than 1,000 in New Zealand and are also referred to as the Australasian crested grebe, eat their very own feathers earlier than vomiting them again up.
“They have a mating dance where they both grab a clump of wet grass and chest bump each other before standing around unsure of what to do next,” Oliver mentioned on his present, including that he had by no means recognized extra with something in his life.
Some in New Zealand pushed again towards Oliver’s marketing campaign.
One group put up adverts studying: “Dear John, don’t disrupt the pecking order,” whereas others urged individuals to vote for the nationwide chicken, the kiwi.
Oliver responded by saying the kiwi seemed like “a rat carrying a toothpick”.
“For the record, all of your birds are great, and it would be an honour to lose to any of them when the results are announced on Wednesday,” Oliver mentioned on his present.
“The reason it is so easy for me to say that is that we aren’t going to lose, are we? We are going to win, and we are going to win by a lot.”
