Wakachangi on George Street

Named for their favourite beer, this flat sign is inspired by the Wakachangi brand logo which utilises the linked script style of typeface. The residents (pictured below) feature on the Wakachangi website.

Wakachangi, is an interesting name from an onomastic perspective. Aside from being the name of the beer, the word was created by comedian Leigh Hart, aka, ‘That Guy’, (creator of Moon TV, and well known for his ubiquitous media presence as a global purveyor of Heller’s meat products) while on Sports Cafe, and refers (in a somewhat random and meandering way reminiscent of the linguistic development of words themselves) to the Waikato River.

“I was doing a thing on the Waikato River and I was trying to come up with a name for it. I started calling it the Ol’ Misty, the Old Wakatoomba, the Old Lady, the Old Wakachangi and eventually got to the Waikato. It’s just a word that’s always resonated.”[1]

The beer is aimed specifically at the student demographic, it’s advertising hits all the notes of members of this age group who like to get together and talk rubbish over a few beers (the “lads and laughs” market [2]). The advertising takes the art of storytelling to the extreme with its claims to be “a South Otago beer with North Canterbury flavours brewed by a West Coaster with the ol’ misty waters of the Waikato.”[1] Hart confirms it is all about “bullshit”:

“All your best laughs and all the bullshit you spin tends to be over a few beers, and that’s kind of what it’s all about. … It’s not a regional thing, it’s not an age thing, it’s about fun and bullshit,” he said, referring to the beer’s demographic.” [1]

Wakachangi was launched in Dunedin at Re-Ori week in 2013 at Leith Liquor.[3]

[1] Would you drink That Guy’s Beer? News Wire – 14/08/13

[2] Foy, Warrick. Daily Brews. Taranaki Daily News Online – 3/12/13

[3] Wakachangi Beer Launch – Critic – Issue 16 2013