Popping manus is an Aotearoa tradition and L&P reckon they can level up the bombs of people around the motu with some fresh ‘Manu Togs’.
The classic Kiwi drink is giving away the new togs to people who post their manus with the hashtag #MASA (Manu Applied Science Aotearoa). You can make it a normal post, chuck it on your story, or comment under this Facebook post to go into the draw to win.
The new togs are built for popping manus, made “with protection shields to stop mad back slaps, compression inner for ultimate leg protection, absolutely no pockets (apart from the chilly bin pocket, for your can), space material so you don’t rip your togs, and a drawstring.”
I suck at popping manus and I doubt these togs will be the difference-maker. But if you can send water towering into the air, glistening in the sunlight as it reaches its peak, gaining the respect of on-lookers, I reckon you should get involved in this.
The manu - or v-bomb as it’s called in Tauranga - has a disputed history. Many Māngere locals reckon their suburb invented it, and that the name ‘Manu’ is actually a shortened version of Māngere.
In the early 1990s, there were bomb competitions at the outdoor Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa pools in Māngere which could have been where the bombing technique started. Others say it’s translated from māngere, the Te Reo word for ‘lazy’, as it’s a lazy-looking bomb.
However, people from Raglan say that the old Te Kopau bridge birthed the manu as early as the 1960s.
It could even go as far back as the 1880s when the first Whakarewarewa bridge was built. Tourists would throw pennies off the bridge and if locals “could splash the tourists up on the bridge they were more likely to throw down extra coins,” according to Madeline Chapman for Barker’s ‘1972’ magazine.
No matter where is started, it’s here to stay, so keep on popping team.
