Grieg Wilson: Wellington bar owner on being told he cannot advertise to students during O-week

Wellington bar owner Greig Wilson is in a dispute with the Wellington City Council after being told he couldn't distribute pamphlets advertising his bars during O-week at Victoria University. 

Wilson says he's distributed the flyers for years - but the Victoria University of Wellington Students Association complained to the council's licensing team that the flyers promoted a drinking environment with minimal pastoral and safety services.

The council subsequently wrote to Wilson, saying "from the inspectorates and police point of view, we believe that licensees must not be targeting students to draw them to their bars”.

Wilson, who owns popular bars including Vinyl and Shady Lady, says he is now seeking legal advice and spoke to Nick Mills about the situation.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talk SIB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Wasn't such a great weekend for Greg Wilson. Now he
got a little letter from the city council telling him off. Greg,
You've been a naughty boy, Gregory Wilson joins us now
from You've been a little bit of a naughty boy, Greg.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
I've been naughty.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yes, we've had notification not allowed to hand out fliers
at the vic Uney.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
So who told you you weren't allowed to do that?
The City council or the vic Guney Students Association.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
So I was a city council, but the complaint was
made by the university. I understand complaining about us handing
out O week flies, but really, look, we had good
attentions around the flyers. They had a twenty four point
nine to nine percent discount for people who turned up
before midnight with the flyer. So the idea was to
drive customers in their earlier part of the evening to

(00:59):
the licensed premise rather than have them sitting in flat
stricking bottles of vodka and mount cop till one am
and then coming down the cour place. Would much rather
had them in a controlled environment. And the earlier part
of the evening.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Why did the university sort of kick or the association
kick up? Really when I think that, and I'm not
sure whether you have, but I know that places I've
been associated have been doing this for years.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah, that's right. I understand why other years will hand
it out flyers at Viking Metsy for year after year
and it's never been a problem. But suddenly now it's illegal.
So yeah, it's interesting and we're just going to take
some advice on it, you know, from the expert.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Do you think that this will affect you when you
reapply for your license because one of the places you've
got only got a twelve month license, as everybody on
a new license does, so that must be coming up
for a new or anytime now. Do you think that
they'll use this as evidence to try and back up
your hours?

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Well, that licenses is for the same day. That's just
been a bit of for approval from the district licensing
committee and so expecting that to be rubber stamped any
day now. But no, look, I don't think so loot.
From time to time they agencies all try to bring
up issues from the past, but really This one's a
bit of a non issue really. You know, we were,

(02:18):
with all good intentions, just trying to get people into
the bars a little bit early and give them a
bit of a discount.

Speaker 4 (02:22):
Was Week this.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Year as big as O Weeks normally? Do you think
that the university is trying to keep O Week to
the university owned facilities rather than spread it out and
what it's normally been a Welcome to Wellington week?

Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeh, this week? This is this year? O Week was good,
but it wasn't as wasn't as good as last year.
And so Wellington is supposed to be a student town.
You know, we should be rolling out the maths for
these students. They bring a lot of vibrancy to the
city in the center and they want to go out
and party and the young people, and we should be
celebrating that, but also just providing them safe spaces and

(02:59):
making it making that okay.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
You know, what's wrong with targeting students? I mean, basically
you have been told off for targeting students. What's wrong
with targeting students? If you want to be a young
and funky place.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
That's right, you know. Look, it's no different from someone
opening up the paper and seeing bottles of vulture and
for sale on the paper, or walking past the billboard
selling trying to sell alcohol, or walking past a bar
that's got a footpath sign out the front advertising a
happy hour. You know, this is just a fly It's
a different form of marketing, which we really don't see

(03:33):
the big drama.

Speaker 4 (03:34):
Yeah, is it actually illegal? Were other bars doing it
as well?

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Are the bars? I believe though?

Speaker 4 (03:41):
Is it illegal to put alcohol on a flyer? And
you know, like pass it up?

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Because I mean people have been doing it for ever
since I was as a teenager.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
That's right, And there's nothing that I've made aware of
the legislation that's changed in recent years that says that
is not illegal now. So we're being boothled. We're just
going to take some more advice on it because it's
part of our marketing plan for the years. And you know,
you make yourself and bars at the moment, we had
to get harder and faster to survive and be successful

(04:13):
in this business, and so you know, this is a
really important part of our max.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
I know that there's a big anti on discounting, and
you know, I mean, I know a lot of places
have made a living out of doing this cheap drinking stuff.
But reality is, it's it's it's it's it's only what
we call in the industry crack cocaine. And once you start,
you've got to keep doing it because you can't put
your prices up. Are you concerned by doing that?

Speaker 3 (04:36):
No? No, no, no, not at all. No, no, you know,
so you know you look at our prices at the bars, right,
So if they want to, if they're concern about pricing,
I mean they can go and buy the same alcohol
for seventy five percent cheaper from a bottle store, seventy
five percent cheaper, you know, from Shaper's New World or
any bottle stort. So like, if you know, the authorities

(04:56):
are concerned about discount and that's what they actould be looking.
They need to be looking at the lost licenses in
the city. But actually, honestly, bar owners are fed up
with being targeted for alcohol promotions when actually the vast
majority of alcohol in this country comes from eighty five percent.
It's a staggering amount. And if they want to be
successful at reducing alcohol and Wellington, these agencies need to

(05:20):
be focused on the where the real issue is, which
is the offsore premise liquor because bar owners have had us.
We're just fed up targeted because we're the easy targets.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
And what is it eighty five percent of alcohol sold?
It's not sold in bars and restaurants. I mean it's incredible.

Speaker 4 (05:36):
Will you will you eighty five percent?

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (05:38):
What do you carry on doing these flyers?

Speaker 2 (05:40):
Or or you your hands been slapped well enough to
put your hand, put your hands back in your pocket.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
Well, we're going to take some advice on it. We'll
take some advice and just double check that we are
operating legally. We may have to modify the flyes potentially,
but look, I just don't see any difference between an
ad and the paper selling alcohol, or or a piece
of paper flyer as promoting a bar with alcohol.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
So yeah, we all just rang before you came on
saying that he's been up to the universities, Masses and
Victoria Universities and they've got billboards all over the place
actually advertising bars and deals and stuff. What's the difference
between that and your flyer?

Speaker 3 (06:20):
But apparently what we're doing is illegal.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yeah, but they're allowed to put their own advertising when
they're taking their own money and they're making money out
of selling, selling the advertising.

Speaker 4 (06:28):
It's all right for them to do that.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
That's right. And so it seems to the big companies,
the big line dB or the biggest suppliers, and they
seem to be that they's fine for them.

Speaker 4 (06:37):
But not no.

Speaker 2 (06:39):
Greg, always good to talk, always good to check, keep
up the good work, keep working hard, catch you on,
catch you on the streets sometimes. Greg Wilson bar owner,
he's the one that's got the handslaped from the Walllington
City Council for producing flyers and presenting them at Victoria
University during O week Orientation week.

Speaker 1 (07:01):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio