Mitchells & Butlers teams up with Old Mout Cider to tackle kiwi extinction crisis

15-Oct-2018 - Last updated on 15-Oct-2018 at 15:56 GMT

New Zealand icon: the Kiwi is on all Old Mout branding

In a bid to stop the kiwi from going extinct, Mitchells & Butlers has partnered with New Zealand-born cider Old Mount and created a mobile game that aims to raise money to help save the bird.

With only one in 20 kiwi birds surviving to adulthood, mobile game, Kiwi-Cycle, was created to raise money and awareness in order to help save New Zealand’s “national icon”.

Since its launch in May, the “fun, engaging and informative” app, hosted on M&B app platforms, has since been downloaded by more than 40,000 players, played over 500,000 times and has raised in excess of £20,000 for bird conservation Kiwis.

The game encourages players to take control of their own kiwi by moving it from left to right with the aim of collecting fruit and bottles from its path. Every bottle recycled in games sees 1p donated towards Kiwis’ cause.

Positive feedback

Players also have the opportunity to unlock in-outlet prizes, such as free Old Mout ciders, starters and desserts, redeemable across a total of 673 participating outlets including All Bar One, Nicholson’s and Sizzling Pubs.

Mitchells & Butlers procurement manager Ben Lockwood said the ambition behind the game was to create awareness and has received positive feedback since its launch.

“Heineken UK continues to display forward-thinking and innovative digital activations, so using this expertise to help with the launch of Old Mout was an obvious step for M&B,” he added.

“Feedback from our operators and our guests has been extremely positive and we expect that to continue with further brand activations planned."

Mobile gaming

“While being able to follow up other sustainability projects, such as removing straws from All Bar One, saving the Kiwi has definitely been something that has resonated with our guests.”

Brand Director for Old Mout Emma Sherwood-Smith said she was “delighted” with the results of Kiwi-Cycle.

She added: “Mobile gaming is massively popular and provides a major opportunity for Heineken to engage consumers, activate brands and help meet our customers’ objectives."