I received the following from Michael Kirby…
So you don't find anything morally or ethically troubling when a celebrity (who has a large following) monopolizes someone else's poll for their own personal ends? To him (and to some of his followers) the billboards etc and ramifications may appear as one big joke. But to others who take these things more seriously….
Polls are designed to gauge people's reactions to items. Surely you would be unhappy if a project you enjoyed working on was downgraded in a poll, because of a situation similar to the above. The New York Times' latest poll shows that writers of Groo and Garfield love cole slaw.
Remember, not all polls are conducted by Dick Morris.
So let me get this straight: You're telling me that people take a poll to name The Bird of the Century seriously? And I don't think this was even a poll. It was a competition in which anyone could go to a website and vote. The word "poll" suggests some sort of effort is made to hear from people who represent a cross-section of the population.
And according to all the articles I've seen, the organizers of the contest were thrilled that John Oliver mounted his campaign and thrilled with the response. The idea of the vote was — and I quote — "…to raise awareness for native New Zealand bird species, of which about 80 percent are threatened or at risk of extinction." Oliver's stunt led to them receiving "…more than 280,000 votes in a contest that had previously seen a maximum voter turnout of about 56,000 in 2021."
It was a campaign to raise awareness for what actually is a serious matter. And Oliver raised a whole lot more awareness. I think that's great.
And I also think it would be great if the New York Times poll said that I love cole slaw. That would remind people that they shouldn't take the New York Times poll seriously when it comes to less important matters…like who'll be our next president. That might be important when we're close to Election Day…but now? Personally, I'm thinking that when that time comes, I'm voting for the pūteketeke. Unless he's convicted of one or more felonies.