DNA reboots Wellington Advent Calendar

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WELLINGTON, Today: Auckland & Wellington-based digital agency DNA, with their client the Wellington Regional Development Agency, have released the 2018 edition of the popular Wellington Advent Calendar.

Wellington feline Mittens’ fame is about to grow with the fearless cat featuring in the 2018 edition. Mittens, an eight-year-old Turkish angora has captured locals’ hearts with his tendency to roam the city visiting restaurants, shops and even people’s homes – just like the advent calendar!

The digital promotion offers Wellingtonians a new deal every day from 1 December (tomorrow, Saturday) to Christmas Eve from 24 local retail and hospitality businesses.

Behind each digital door hides a special free or discounted treat, starting with 2-for-1 slices of cake from Sweet Release on Willis St. The deals are redeemable from the day the advent door opens until the end of February 2019, giving customers an extra month to grab their deal.

Wreda marketing & comms director Anna Calver says fans will be delighted by this year’s version. “We’ve been producing the Wellington Advent Calendar for almost 10 years now and we always try and top what we’ve done before both in the design and the deals.


Advent calendars were originally a Christian concept, counting to Xmas. Nowadays, they’re rather more mercantile in orientation!”

“People will really enjoy trying to spot some of Wellington’s most memorable moments from the past year, as well as grabbing a great deal whilst they’re at it.”

This year, Masterton-based artist Chris Davidson did the illustrations. The decision was made to pivot the point of view, orientating it to look out across the harbour towards Lower Hutt, with Davidson’s graphic, detail-orientated style capturing the city perfectly.

Davidson said: “It was an exciting project to be a part of and it was great to have the free license to create.

“I’ve grown up with Wellington and it’s a city I love so it was a chance to try and capture that in an illustration. I wanted to explore something that would resonate and speak of the vibrancy and sense of discovery within the city.”

In 2017, over the 24 days of the promotion 87,000 deal vouchers were claimed by locals and visitors via the website.

NOTE: Advent calenders were originally a Christian concept, counting down the days to Xmas. Nowadays, they tend to be rather more mercantile in orientation!


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