L&P spelling blunder earns Trade Me charity auction
A bidding war could be on the cards for a dozen L&P cans with botched labels.
The first batch of L&P's summer-themed cans have a label reading "Cook Straight", instead of Cook Strait.
But the spelling blunder is proving fruitful for Foodbank New Zealand, who nabbed a dozen of the cans to auction on Trade Me as "antiques and collectibles".
On Monday, with five days of bidding left, 12 unopened cans were going for $125, with 25 bids and 50 people watching.
READ MORE: Cook Straight - straight-up error, or clever marketing by L&P?
All proceeds will fund the charity's online food parcels.
"Thanks to someone who can't spell (or a genius in marketing) you can grab yourself a slice of L&P history and support a family in need," the Trade Me description says.
The cans were released in October 2017 and designed to celebrate New Zealand Summer.
In February, L&P marketing manager Angela Broad told Stuff the "Cook Straight" had been a typing error and cans released with the spelling mishap were an 'extra limited' edition.
Foodbank NZ executive director Craig Stephenson - who put the L&P cans on Trade Me - recently stumbled across the cans and took a punt in putting them on Trade Me.
"I got a can out of the vending machine and I saw it was one of those," Stephenson said. "And I thought, oh this is one of those collectible ones, I wonder how many more are in there."
"So, I bought another 12."
He hasn't heard of anyone else selling them off, yet.
"I was going to be happy with $50, but now I'm ecstatic.
"It's not often you get mistakes like this. Especially with an iconic brand [like] L&P."
Yet it's not the first quirky "collectible" to show up on Trade Me and it won't be the last.
In January, an unwanted beetroot from Taranaki - given as a Christmas present - sold for $122 on Trade Me.
And 16 Cadbury Caramilk chocolate blocks are currently up for grabs, with a $150 price tag.
Unusual collectible listings like the 'Cook Straight' L&P cans are often a hit, Trade Me spokeswoman Millie Silvester said in a statement.
"Every year we see the number of listings surge each time New World or Countdown release a new collectibles range," Silvester said.
"Some collectors' items appreciate a lot over time. Others are a labour of love and are collected for the thrill of the chase.
"A few years ago, one exasperated Trade Me member sold a bunch of Countdown collectible cards. The listing was hugely popular with Kiwis and had over 133,000 views before it sold for $110.
"When the Marmite factory was out of action we saw a jar of Marmite raise a whopping $810 for the Pediatric Neurology Service.
"It's great to see these rare cans of the good lemony stuff raising money for a good cause."
Stuff