A Welsh whisky manufacturer has been forced by the Welsh Government to stop using a particular symbol of a Welsh dragon.
Penderyn Distillery launched a £1 million advertising campaign in New Zealand which has proved somewhat controversial in the southern hemisphere country. The advert appearing on Kiwi Facebook feeds described Wales as the "New Zealand of the North'' but added “only we're 100% open". The NZ Herald described this as: “What can be read as a stab at Aotearoa's [Māori-language name for New Zealand] pandemic border restrictions”.
The distillery used the Welsh dragon symbol instead of its own logo but “accidentally” used the ‘y Ddraig Goch’, which Visit Wales secured a trademark for in 2016. This was shown on many of its adverts in New Zealand as well as on billboards by the side of the motorway.
When Visit Wales discovered that their logo was being used they contacted Penderyn to get the images taken down. The Telegraph reported that an email chain, showed how Visit Wales listed social media posts, adverts and billboards featuring their red dragon alongside pictures of Snowdonia mountains, salt lamb chops and the Dolbadarn Castle in Caernarfon.
Although the Visit Wales dragon and Penderyn logo are similar there are differences. The Visit Wales dragon has three feet on the ground whereas the distillery's dragon is standing on two legs and has a slightly more upright body.
Most Kiwi's seemed to take the joke with good humour. These were some of the responses on social media:
A Penderyn spokesperson told the Telegraph: “The use of the Visit Wales logo was an honest mistake which we are eager to rectify after the government brought it to our attention.
“The campaign has been little tongue in cheek. In this fight, the Visit Wales dragon has breathed fire that singed us a little.”
A Visit Wales spokeswoman said: “Penderyn is one of many great Welsh food and drink products that we produce in Wales. The specific logo used in this case was part of the registered trademark of the Cymru Wales brand – we would of course not restrict use of the Welsh dragon generally.”
