Suspects have been named in the disappearance of a 10-metre tall, 7-tonne Big Mango in northern Queensland.
The mango was hoisted and taken away on a crane in the early hours of Monday morning – but nobody in the town of Bowen heard a thing. Apparently.
A fast-food chain, believed to be Nando’s, is behind the “theft” of the tourism icon after posting a video on YouTube revealing how it completed the stunt.
In a statement, the company thanked the people of Bowen for “being good sports about us ‘borrowing’ their beautiful mango”.
The chairman of the Bowen Tourism Board, Paul McLaughlin, denied orchestrating the mango’s disappearance even though it appears he was in on the successful viral marketing stunt.
Neil Stone, who works for a local crane company, said the mango was hidden in bushland about 500 metres away from its home at the Bowen Visitor Information Centre.
“It’s 10-metres high and seven metres wide. It’s a bit hard to hide,” he said.
Guardian Australia said it linked a Bowen Tourism press release about the missing attraction to Sydney marketing company Banjo Advertising.
