NZ Dental Association asks Taika Waititi to stop working with Coca-Cola

A top-notch dentist feels sick to his stomach after seeing this year’s Coca-Cola Christmas ad, directed by Oscar-winning New Zealander Taika Waititi.

The ad, posted last month, tells the moving story of a father who goes to great lengths to personally deliver his daughter’s letter to Santa.

The action-packed commercial was directed by Waititi, and has now been criticized by Rob Beaglehole, the spokesman for the New Zealand Dental Association, who criticized the director’s involvement with Coca-Cola.

“I felt sick to my stomach,” Beaglehole told Newshub about seeing the ad.

“It is a very powerful and very clever announcement and I wanted to write a letter to Taika telling him how disappointed I was, particularly from a Maori health equity perspective,” he added.

The New Zealand Dental Association urges Waititi to cut its ties with the sugary drink maker.

“I would like to say that you are an amazing director; my children love you and I really enjoy all your films [but] Please can you end any relationship you have with a company that is directly hurting New Zealanders, especially young people? ”Added Dr. Beaglehole, a vocal activist for a sugar tax.

“When I saw him, I was so outraged, I was really proud of him, so I felt really conflicted.”

Beaglehole says it is important to highlight the fact that “sugary beverage companies, including Coca-Cola, are selling products that are harmful to New Zealanders and need to be stopped.”

“What the Dental Association and many other organizations are asking of the government is to show leadership and implement evidence-based regulations that will reduce the consumption of sugary beverages,” he added.