New investigative podcast digs into Christmas card mischief

From Nights, 9:15 pm on 22 December 2023

Exactly 30 years ago, the company then-known as Telecom sent out some corporate Christmas cards.

A logo for the Prank of the Year podcast, featuring the title in black text, with the colours of the logo for the Clear mobile company shining through the "A" in "PRANK".

Prank of the Year is a new podcast hosted by Kiwis Craig Major and Luke Watkinson. Photo: Supplied

If you looked closely enough at the illustration on these cards, you could make out the words 'Telecom Sucks'. And if you looked even closer, you could spot the logo of Telecom's big competitor, Clear, subtly integrated into the image.

Being the pre-internet sleuthing days, the story eventually faded into the ether. But now, 30 years on, Kiwis Craig Major and Luke Watkinson took it upon themselves to get to the bottom of what went on here. They've turned their investigation into a podcast series called Prank of the Year, the final episode of which dropped this morning.

They join Mark Leishman to share the fruits of their investigation.