At last week’s economic development committee meeting, councillors were shown a sample of adverts from the Enterprise Dunedin’s new marketing campaign, based on "uniquely Dunedin" moments.
One video featured a group of people playing touch rugby on an Otago Peninsula beach with a large sea lion in the foreground.
Cr Steve Walker said while the campaign was "on-brand", the camera and touch players appeared to be too close to the sea lion.
"I’m just asking ... because Dunedinites, being Dunedinites, will look for things to critique," he said.
Shotover Creative managing director James Perry said the company had worked closely with the Department of Conservation during production.
"The talent were well-beyond 20m from that sea lion and, believe it or not, that camera was on the 20m mark," he said.
"We were using a telephoto lens, we were just using cinema magic to make everything look a lot more compressed and closer than it actually was."
Enterprise Dunedin digital content co-ordinator Hayden Parsons said there had been a local tourism operator on-site, "just keeping an eye on things as well".
The updated campaign would focus on tourist markets in Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Parsons said about 10 short videos of "uniquely Dunedin moments" had been made, with accompanying static images.
These included hikes up the Sandymount track, Karitāne Māori Tours and the Taieri Gorge Train.
"You’ll hear just the ambient sounds of Dunedin, which should give the impression of being in the scene and taking it all in," Mr Parsons said.
The campaign would reintroduce the Dunedin tone of voice — "that quirky humour and that wry tone that we’re known for".
As reported last week, the council have opted to continue the marketing campaign using the Dunedin brand logo, voting unanimously to remove the "It’s Just Dunedin" tagline.
