Māori language Māori phrase "kia kaha", "be strong", is frequently encountered as an indication of moral support for someone starting a stressful undertaking or otherwise in a difficult situation. Many other words such as "whānau" (meaning "family") and "kai" (meaning "food") are also widely understood and used by New Zealanders. Māori language Māori (; ), also known as te reo ("the language"), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and Tahitian, it became one of New Zealand's official languages in 1987. The number of speakers of
Kia-Ora launched a colourful, animated advertising campaign, directed by Oscar Grillo of Klacto Animations, which used the jingle "We all adore a Kia-Ora", and featured a child in a straw hat, a dog called Fedora who served the drink, and multiple crows who pursued the boy for a drink, with the boy responding with "it's too orangey for crows". Later promotions included Caramba's song "Fido", and the jingle was referred to in the Spaced episode "Gone". The advertisements attracted a degree of controversy in later years, with claims of implicit racism, because the boy looked similar to a golliwog. The brand