Darcy Lawrey (he/him)
If you’re one of the many freshers starting your study at VUW you were probably excited to kick off the year with VUWSA’s O-Week. But perhaps not quite as excited as some of Wellington’s nightclub owners. In a bid to cash in on freshers’ course related costs, a number of nightclubs such as Red Square, Shady Lady, and Dakota, ran aggressive marketing campaigns targeting students.
Playing fast and loose with liquor laws, mimicking VUWSA’s branding, and shuttling students to their door were all on the cards for various bars and clubs across the precinct.
At orientation events earlier in the day, some students were offered vouchers which could be exchanged for a “complimentary gift” from Red Bull, redeemable at Red Square Bar. Red Square’s Instagram story, which has since been deleted, revealed the “complimentary gift” to be a Vodka Red Bull, breaching liquor laws.
Red Square insists that Red Bull was responsible for the marketing campaign. However, when we spoke to a Red Bull’s VUW campus representative, they denied having any knowledge of the campaign. Attempts made to contact Red Bull higher-ups were futile.
Epic Hospitality also tried to cash in on O-Week by distributing flyers offering 25% off before midnight. Redeemable at three of their venues, Shady Lady, Vinyl, and Dakota, the flyers used branding VUWSA found remarkably similar to their official O-Week marketing.
In emails seen by Salient, Epic Hospitality was warned by Wellington City Council that their flyers were also in breach of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act for offering a discount of 25% or higher. The discount, which Epic Hospitality says was a mistake, was later dropped to 24.999%.
However, VUWSA CEO Matt Tucker is still concerned that the targeting of first years by bars is not healthy, “I’ve done O-Week for 8 years and this is the heaviest targeting I’ve seen yet.”
He believes that there needs to be consequences for breaches of liquor laws, “if this is allowed to happen, then every bar will want to do it […] it’s not good precedent setting”.
A veteran Courtenay Place bartender who wished to remain anonymous pulled no punches: “[it’s] fucken bullshit. They're so desperate. Where was the care for student safety?”
However, Greig Wilson, Co-Owner of Epic Hospitality, insists the campaign to get freshers into their bars was all about safety. “If you’re a parent, would you rather your daughter is in a licensed venue before midnight or at a flat party in Mount Cook with a bottle of vodka?” he asked. He believes that VUWSA is overreacting: “This old mantra that the bars are evil is completely outdated”.
While Epic Hospitality said they would “rather give their money to the Green Party” than consult with a lawyer, Wilson confirmed they were seeking legal advice after being told by the Chief Licencing Inspector that they must not target students.
