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National | Competition

Sibling Haka group win Toyota #YOUARECHR competition

Kapa Haka Hip Hop fusion sibling group, Toka Tū are the winners of Toyota's #YOUARECHR social media campaign. The Rotorua based group received the most votes of 15,000 through Toyota's Facebook page.

The unique fusion of Māori culture with dance hip hop by the Toka Tū whānau were the favourites.

Toka Tū spokesperson Kila Haitana says the win was a shock to them.

"No matter what, our priority is to entertain people for the love of our Māori customs and our love to entertain. So winning wasn't the focus for us."

Nine innovative contestants from hundreds of entries were selected to use the C-HR and a film crew for the day to show they were as unique and interesting as the new car, and ultimately won the $40,000 vehicle.

"We believed the majority of people who are customers of Toyota are non Māori. So we wanted to promote the Māori world to those who haven't seen it before. The difficulty we faced, was capturing the Māori viewpoint in a short video," said Haitana.

Toka Tū used the Toyota C-HR as their Waka to take the audience on a journey back in time to tell the story of how geothermal activity was created in New Zealand.

"It's about Ngātoroirangi. And when he ascended Tongariro mountain and his battle with Hape-ke-tua-rangi. The fought and Ngātoroirangi won the southern summit, and that's how it came to be called Tongariro."

There is one car and five siblings in the whānau. When asked who will have the car Haitana said, "We've decided to give the car to our parents."

Toka Tū have been approached by other New Zealand companies to collaborate in other advertising video opportunities.