L&P spelling blunder earns Trade Me charity auction

Foodbank New Zealand have found the silver lining in L&P's "Cook Straight" mishap.
DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF
Foodbank New Zealand have found the silver lining in L&P's "Cook Straight" mishap.

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