Tragically, the vast majority of New Zealanders received the Pfizer ‘vaccinations’ during the covid era – even though some were NOT mandated by law to get them. How did Ardern’s Labour Government manage to traumatise and manipulate millions of its citizens and coerce them into getting those experimental mRNA injections? The clues are found in those toxic partnerships between Governments and powerful commercial companies.
Introduction
In March 2021 the New Zealand ‘vaccination’ roll-out was announced. Eight months later the ‘no jab, no job’ mandates began, in the form of the Covid-19 Response (Vaccinations) Legislation Act. Importantly, at the time, even the NZ legacy media reported it as problematic:
With no select committee examination that would have allowed public input, the Bill was introduced on Tuesday November 23 (2021), put through all its stages the same day, and received the royal assent, turning it into law, on Thursday. At best it is somewhat rough at the edges, but at worst potentially flawed.
Democratic processes had been swept aside in favour of profitable commerce. This is evidenced by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), rather than the Ministry of Health, being given full responsibility for the NZ ‘Covid Response’.
New Zealand’s largest retailer The Warehouse Group (TWG), along with other commercial giants such as dairy producer Fonterra, logistics provider Mainfreight and the electrical appliance manufacturer, Fisher & Paykel, had secret arrangements with New Zealand Government that aimed to coerce staff and customers to ‘take one for the team’. Focusing on the case study of TWG, in this article I illustrate the web of practical mechanisms that promoted the Government-sponsored BigPharma propaganda during the covid era. The strategies used, including subliminal messaging, are outlined in MINDSPACE, authored by the UK’s Nudge Unit. Unsurprisingly, when investigating the medium of these messages, we discover it is owned by the finance industry.
The Context of TWG
TWG’s existing branding of bright red, together with its marketing device ‘Red Radio’ provided stores with a head-start in their covid-era propaganda. This is because, historically, red is symbolic of fire in Chinese philosophy, and linked to leadership, aggression, confidence and warnings of danger. Paradoxically, red is the colour of both love (e.g. in a “red, red rose”) and hatred (“seeing red”), and stimulates intense emotions. In Christianity red symbolizes the blood of Christ, hence red is worn by priests and was the colour of robes worn by Kings in the Middle Ages to emphasise their perception of a God-given right to rule. Little wonder then, that as Kyrie and Broudy point out, red has been leveraged by visual media to manipulate our behaviours in propaganda in many contexts, including commercial entities like TWG.
TWG, with hundreds of staff and millions of customers, has a network of three national retail brands: Noel Leeming (electrical goods); The Warehouse (housewares) and Warehouse Stationery. This enormous reach was important in pressuring what Ardern cleverly called her ‘team of five million’. The larger the audience BigPharma could target, the more normalised the covid-era propaganda became; the easier it was to coerce the population into taking at least two doses of the experimental mRNA injection.
During the covid lockdown periods of 2020 that crippled many smaller businesses, TWG predictably engaged in powerful nationwide promotions for online shopping with ‘contactless’ collection. Like many global retailers, the lockstep lockdowns negatively impacted TWG stores, but the Government ‘furlough’ payments of wage subsidies and other allowances softened the blow – at least in the short-term. But in December 2020, TWG agreed to repay the NZ$68 million it had previously claimed in Government wage subsidies during the 2020 lockdowns.
TWG understandably came under fire from unions, and others, including the Prime Minister (then, Jacinda Ardern), for taking these funds when it made hundreds of staff redundant and subsequently reported a full year profit in 2024 of NZ$44.5m. (Without the Government subsidy TWG would have made a loss of approximately NZ$4m). At the time, the CEO Nick Grayson defended the action but then he abruptly left his role (in May 2024).
Subsequent evidence, from Official Information Act (OIA) responses and other sources, shines a light on TWG and other major Kiwi retailers, revealing these organisations’ held secret meetings with the NZ Government in order to find nefarious ways to coerce the public into getting ‘vaccinated’.
TWGs role in the covid-era propaganda
In the run-up to ‘vaccine’ mandates being implemented, one of the NZ Government Meetings of the ‘Covid-19 Vaccine and Immunisation Programme Steering Group’ (10 Aug 2021) that (Sir) Dr Ashley Bloomfield chaired (as then Director-General of Health), included an agenda item 10b: an update given steering group member Rachel Mackay:
“The two Pilot [Scheme] employers (Mainfreight, Fonterra) will both have completed their first round by 11 August (2021). The Ministry will debrief with both on the learnings from these pilots.”
In a recent Official Information Act response (Ref HNZ00049846) about these ‘pilot projects’, some more insights have been exposed. A month prior to that above mentioned meeting, on 9th July 2021, a ‘Business Meeting’ with the NZ Ministry of Health included a summary of ways that four large corporate companies could ‘assist’ in the Government ‘vaccination’ roll-out. 250 companies submitted an Expression of Interest in the scheme. Importantly, these meetings about the pilot projects were months before the so-called ‘staff consultations’ in many of these companies were held (December 2021). The outcomes from which the managers of these companies claimed, would steer leadership teams’ decisions about the ‘vaccine’ mandates. It would appear from this evidence that, at some workplaces, management had a predetermined outcome well before the staff consultation process had even begun.
In one of the PowerPoint slides released via OIA from this July 2021 meeting, the Government makes it clear how, to be ‘successful’ in their coercive tactics, these workplaces needed to make it as ‘easy as possible’ for their staff to get ‘vaccinated’. This is the ‘D’ for Defaults in the MINDSPACE Report; human behaviour tends to make us avoid an active choice in favour of taking the lazy option that has been pre-selected (in this case, taking paid time off work with colleagues to ‘get vaccinated’):
Exploiting the implicit trust and loyalty that (some) employees have for their employers was a central part of MINDSPACE. “M is for Messenger” – and when that Messenger is an individual’s primary source of income, that makes it an important message.
The screenshot below comes from these Government Covid Vaccine and Immunisation Programme Steering Group Meeting Minutes (page12 of this pdf) dated Sept 2021 (released via OIA):
In these minutes, the TWG are praised by Dr Ashley Bloomfield and colleagues, for “throw[ing] everything at their customers and staff … [to encourage them to get ‘vaccinated]” including lots of “incentives” and “offering to push the message of vaccination centres through their ‘red radio’, […] their internal radio network that customers hear in their stores.” This praise played into the ‘E is for Ego’ of the companies’ managers: the final letter of the MINDSPACE set of manipulative techniques.
Below I explain the significance of the reference to Red Radio in the above quote. But first, a brief summary of the propaganda technique that is used by devices like TWGs Red Radio, owned by the company Retail Radio.
Subliminal Messaging in Behavioural Psychology
The word “subliminal” literally means below the conscious level. We might not remember seeing or hearing something specific, but our unconscious awareness may have recognised and interpreted that message. Psychologists have studied how exposure to subliminal messaging, through our senses, can bypass our cognitive mind, and impact on subconscious levels. Marketeers have utilised this behavioural science; when advertisements are concealed, sometimes beneath seemingly innocuous information, this can have a powerful impact on our mood, behaviour and even decision-making. It can also be useful for ‘Priming’ – the ‘P’ in MINDSPACE: this describes how an individual’s subsequent actions can be altered, if first they are exposed to specific images, sounds or sensations.
Subliminal messages are often discussed in the context of visual effects, especially colours on TV/cinema. Famously, back in 1957, James Vicary claimed that flashing slogans “eat popcorn” and “drink Coca Cola” on single frames (only visible for split seconds throughout a film) led to increased sales for those products. The research was later discredited, but there is plenty of evidence that subliminal advertising is used and is profitable. Even though subliminal advertising was apparently banned in the UK, we have learned to be sceptical. With the use of technology and AI, subliminal advertising has evolved considerably in the last twenty years since this clumsy attempt by McDonalds (2 mins).
‘Sub-audible’ or ‘backmasking’ messages can include simultaneous messages or one that is played in reverse. For example, a voice recording might be added to a song or interview, but at a slow speed and/or low volume that makes it (almost) impossible to detect. Do a quick search of ‘subliminal’ on Spotify (or YouTube) and you’ll find thousands of examples of this psychological technique, especially in self-hypnosis. Every type of behaviour, from weight loss, improved sleep, breaking away from addictions or gaining self-confidence, can be the focus of subliminal messaging proven to be successful for some people. And marketing professionals such as Retail Radio make full use of these techniques too, as well as ensuring customers don’t hear competitor’s adverts. Contrived playlists can manipulate emotions, alongside powerful voiceovers, bleeps or sirens, conveying authority and commanding listeners’ attention.
During the covid era TWG played Red Radio’s fearmongering covid-era messages every ten minutes instore, punctuated by loud ‘emergency’ sirens or beeps. This tactic repeatedly jolted their already frightened customers, reminding them of the need to ‘Stay Safe!’; ‘Wear a facemask!’; ‘Use hand-sanitiser!’; ‘Physical distance by stepping only on the yellow circles on the floor!’
Months later, the jab-mandates were normalised by Red Radio (erroneously) claiming that “99% of Kiwis were “fully vaccinated”. Clues on Retail Radio’s website reveal how the Nudge Unit’s strategies, outlined in MINDSPACE, were integrated smoothly into TWGs customers’ minds:
We aren’t a streaming device consuming all of your internet bandwidth, we store the content locally on our players, and sync them every 10 minutes with our servers. We can produce messaging with our in-house voices, and schedule any content that creates the right ambiance and adds to the personality of the brand we’re working with based on the direction you give us.” (my emphasis)
Other major New Zealand retailers using Retail Radio, such as Mitre10, Michael Hill and Postie, coincidentally also heavily promoted the covid era policies, including ‘vaccination’ mandates. It is unclear whether a government, or even a ‘Five Eyes’ incentive was in place for companies to use this service during covid.
Follow the Money
Retail Radio is part of the Smartpay empire – the largest independently owned and operated EFTPOS (direct debit card) provider in New Zealand & Australia, supporting over 35,000 merchants.
Financially, it is logical that this tactic of subliminal messaging installed within Smartpay retailers’ instore (fake) radio would be provided by those who stand to profit most from sales. EFTPOS Fees in New Zealand include the following:
- Set-up fee for EFTPOS terminals, ranging from $49 to $99 + GST. Subsequently a Monthly Terminal Fee: Varies between $24.00 and $35.00 per month, depending on the provider (Leasing an EFTPOS terminal may involve a subscription fee per terminal, per month, depending on the level of support needed.)
- Mobile EFTPOS (mPOS) devices cost around $25-$40 + GST per device, per month.
- Transaction Fees: Typically 1-4% of the transaction value, but may vary slightly by industry and transaction volume. Interchange Fees: Charged by the cardholder’s bank (issuer) for card payment services, including cardholder services, reward schemes, processing costs, and fraud protection.
- Merchant Service Fees (MSF): Charged by the acquiring bank (eg Westpac) for processing card transactions, with an example of an Interchange Plus pricing plan. Surcharging on credit card transactions is an option to pass on merchant service fees to customers. EFTPOS Air (Westpac Bank’s phone transfer): A 1.4% flat rate per transaction applies.
During the covid era, when physical distancing was encouraged, if not mandated, contactless payments via ‘PayWave’ (rather than cash or a card’s PIN input) were heavily promoted – along with the use of QR codes. In New Zealand, retailers are charged an MSF for accepting PayWave transactions, which consists of interchange fees and acquiring fees. PayWave fees are relatively high and can vary depending on the retailer, card type, and payment provider. According to Consumer NZ, PayWave surcharges can range from 2.5% to as high as 30% of the transaction amount. This is especially relevant when ‘15-min cities’ parking-meters or [uber] taxis charge a flat fee. Clearly, Smartpay were one of many entities to profit from the covid era policies. Due to complaints, the NZ Commerce Commission (a Government quango I have written about before) have begun an investigation into PayWave high surcharge fees.
Conclusion
New Zealand suffered one of the harshest lockdowns during the covid era, along with ‘vaccine’ mandates for many thousands of employees, and coercive measures by many organisations for many other staff, students and volunteers. The mechanisms which manipulated citizens’ behaviours are complex, and this article has examined only one aspect from a case study looking at the largest retail chain, TWG.
To summarise, TWG were a customer of Smartpay and used Retail (Red) Radio to promote BigPharma fearmongering propaganda within their stores, that in turn raised its own profits and that of the financial entity that owned the medium. Staff and customers subjected to Red Radio propaganda were coerced to comply with unethical covid propaganda, and later, ‘vaccination’ mandates. Praised by NZ Gov for this strategy of ‘incentives’, profits increased further.
But TWG haven’t escaped global economic woes – it recently reported its ‘toughest year on record’ and financial troubles continue with a current Net Loss After Tax of $54.2 million. Looking at the latest financials for Smartpay Holdings Ltd, the global economic recession is already having a negative impact. Time will tell what the long-term consequences will be of retailers’ compliance with the NZ Government’s manipulation.
(Featured Image: Warehouse store in Auckland [Kiwiev, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons])
