$750,000 happiness campaign makes Mayor unhappy

NewstalkZB reports:

Auckland Council’s cultural and economic agency, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, has defended the cost of a campaign aimed at getting people to feel more positive about the city.

Figures obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act showed Tātaki spent a total of $737,208.58 to address what it said was a decline in perceptions of Auckland among locals and the rest of the country. …

The mayor told RNZ it was a waste of money.

“I am very dubious about the merits of this particular campaign,” he said.

“Spending over $730,000 of ratepayers’ money on some bloke from Finland having a sauna and eating a kebab while telling us Auckland makes him happy doesn’t sound like value to me.”

I’m with the Mayor.