Some of New Zealand's telecommunications companies have banded together after a Twitter user criticised Vodafone for calling itself "Vodafone Aotearoa".
The user took to the social media platform to criticise the company after its recent network name change from Vodafone NZ.
They attached a screenshot with a bright yellow highlighter showing the company's name changed to "VF Aotearoa", and said they "don't appreciate this".
"My country is called NEW ZEALAND. Plus, it's not exactly inclusive to start using Māori when only 15 percent of Kiwis are PART-Māori," they wrote.
"I don't want it on my phone. Change it now, or else I'll switch providers."
Vodafone responded saying there are no plans to change the network name at this stage.
"Our recent network name change to VF Aotearoa is just to simply to celebrate one of the three beautiful official languages we have here in New Zealand/Aotearoa," it said.
When a second Twitter user responded and called out Vodafone for its supposed "woke bullshit", they also announced they'd be "off to see @SparkNZ now". But Spark said it also celebrates the Māori language.
"We here at Spark also celebrate Māori Language Week and have a dedicated app Kupu to help people learn Te Reo," it said.
"We see this as a celebration of culture, a chance for education and acceptance of both those in our community and inside our workplace."
When a Twitter user asked if New Zealand could "get back to normal" now Māori Language Week has finished, Spark said Te Reo is already "a normal part of our country".
"We will continue to encourage and give tools to those who wish to expand their knowledge and cultural understanding."
But if the criticiser of Vodafone's name-change wanted to switch companies to 2degrees, it appears they'd be out of luck there too.
"Kei te pēhea koe? Hmmm, better not switch to us. We love celebrating Te Reo Māori too! Nice work @vodafoneNZ," 2degrees tweeted.
The responses from the companies drew praise from other Twitter users, one of which said: "I love how both Spark and 2degrees shut him down too."
"Imagine being that scared of the native language of the country you live in," another said. "He's so weak and would crumble at the words 'kia ora'."
