New Zealand agency, Motion Sickness, has launched a new campaign-come-economic experiment-come-museum on Auckland’s famous strip of designer fashion and vintage stores, art and nightlife.
For two weeks of Karangahape Returns, paper receipts from purchases around the neighbourhood will become legal tender, where three receipts will get shoppers a miniaturised version of the great Vegas Girl painting as a key ring, for example, and several hundred receipts wil get a lease to the shop after it closes.
Each of the priceless artefacts sold in the store, many one-off historic items, are an ode to the rich history of the road, as well as its contemporary reality. Karangahape Road was voted one of the world’s coolest streets by Time Out and has long been known as New Zealand’s unofficial red-light district. But in recent years it’s lacked the foot traffic of days gone by. The new campaign aims to be a shot in the arm to this problem.
Among the curios on offer will be original 1975 photography prints from artist, Fiona Clark, of the thriving LBTQI scene; a 1000 piece Mercury Plaza memorial puzzle depicting the iconic space which was shuttered and demolished last decade for 33 receipts; and a one-off ‘KRO4D’ number plate for 200 receipts. The artefacts on offer also reflect the contemporary face of the street, with a one-off full-size stencil from fine line tattoo artist, Thom Hinton; an explosive sourdough starter from Fort Greene; amd a USB stick of field recordings from the road.
The items will be available as long as stocks last at 490 Karangahape Road from Thursday September 11, to Saturday September 20.
Sam Stuchbury, executive creative director, Motion Sickness, commented, “We built this more like an experimental art project than advertising, and that’s exactly what we loved about it. We turned the receipt into currency: a loyalty programme that drives spending, invites mischief, and builds a world only K Road could handle.”
Jamey Holloway, CEO of Karangahape Road Business Association, added, “Part conceptual art, part economic experiment, part souvenir shop, Karangahape Returns is a twisted loyalty programme for the country’s best street. By the end of the campaign we’ll have a room full of receipts, each with a price on it. We plan to use a very powerful effectiveness tool to add these up and measure how much people spent on the street – a willing intern and AI.”
Purchases need to have been physically spent on the road (after all, the campaign aim is to bring people back to the street).
Credits:
Agency: Motion Sickness
Executive Creative Director: Sam Stuchbury
Senior Art Director: Hamish Steptoe
Creative: Freddy Riddiford
Account Manager: Alexandra Clark
Media Planner: Ella Liddell
Production: Motion Sickness
Head of Production: Joseph McAlpine
Producer: Morgan Leary
Production Designer: Joseph Leary
Stills Photographer: Kayle Lawson
Videographer: Ned Pound
Construction Manager: Samuel Montgomery
Retoucher: Denny Monk
Publicity: Leni Ma’ia’i & Finn Hogan @ Dig PR
Client: Karangahape Business Association
General Manager: Jamey Holloway
Marketing & Communications Director: France Hémon
Karangahape Returns product creator credits:
“Shopkeeper” Tony Downing
“Karangahape” back tattoo piece by Thom Hinton and Madison Taiapa @ Bruce Tattoo
“Mercury Plaza” Puzzle & image by Stjohn Milgrew, 2025
“K Rd Field Recordings” soundscapes by James Gibb and Oliver Johnston at Cay Ltd
“Red Eye” book by Ann Shelton, 1997
“Go Girl” postcards and badges from the 2004 tour of 1974 original photography series by Fiona Clark
Special thanks to KBA business suppliers: Barber Dan; Coco’s Cantina; Fort Greene; Lambs’ Pharmacy; EIGHT THIRTY; and Bridget Pyc. Property Sustainability Manager at Samson Corporation
