Discussion
I feel duty bound to comment on the Buck the Sheep controversy. I'm kind of embarrassed that both theSpinoff *and* John Oliver stole a march on me on this one. I've been busy doing fuck all, as is the nature of burnout. But I digress ...
In brief, I when the Greens and ACT/ Free Speech Onion agree on something, it's usually pretty bona fide. Obviously satire ought to be exempt from NZ copyright law. Or even better, BORA ought to have teeth enough overrule it.
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Second, when I finally watched the ad (I've been mostly ad-free for years), it gave me a deeply unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. Presumably because generative models were used in the animation. Giving it that living plastic look, which stands out like a chip packet blowing around the forest.
It's visual noise pollution, and just like that chip packet it just doesn't seem like it ought to be there. Why couldn't they have done this with a puppet, early-Weta style?
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Finally, I have to address the element in the room. Is Buck - as #HaydenDonnell suggested in theSpinoff - a hot sheep?
"@jestermaxxing posted an image from Kiwibank’s own ad material and sees their DMCA request as a tacit acknowledgement from the bank itself that it, seemingly accidentally, has created a hot sheep."
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I'm no furry myself (although I do have a thing for Jessica Rabbit), but if I'm going to be embarrassingly honest in public, I *kind of* see what they mean on this one. I think it's a combo of the eyes, and the voice.
I'm presuming the animators did the Disney thing of modelling the facial features on the voice actor's. If so, whoever she is, she has very pretty eyes, and a voice that could launch a thousand ships (Helen of Troy reference, look it up).
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But there's a few things really baking my noodle in this. Firstly;
"Created by Kiwibank and its fully Kiwi-owned independent collective including Special, Together, DNA, and TRA, the integrated campaign ...
#RickiGreen, 2026
https://campaignbrief.co.nz/2026/07/03/kiwibank-introduces-kiwis-to-buck-the-green-wooled-sheep-who-refuses-to-follow-the-flock-in-new-campaign-via-special-together-dna-and-tra/
Does it really take 5 companies to carry out 1 ad campaign? How much are KB customers (effectively) paying for all this? It does feel a bit like the public workers cliche of 4 blokes getting paid by the hour to watch the new guy dig a hole.
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