The mysterious disappearance of Bowen's Big Mango has been revealed as an elaborate publicity stunt. The ten-metre tall monument to one of Australia's most loved summer fruits made headlines around the world after it was reportedly stolen from its home in Bowen, Queensland early yesterday morning. The chairman of the Bowen Tourism Board, Paul McLaughlin, denied orchestrating the mango's disappearance and it seems he was technically correct, even though it appears he was in on the successful viral marketing stunt. A man who claimed he helped shift the mango and hide it in bushes around 500m from the site said he was contracted by a Sydney-based marketing firm. Neil Stone, an employee of crane company S&W Crane Hire, said he had been hired to move the mango by Banjo Advertising but declined to say if the job was done at the request of the Bowen Tourism Board. "I'm not allowed to say anything until this afternoon," he told The Sydney Morning Herald. The plot thickened this morning when fastfood chain Nando's released a statement saying they would "take good care of the mango, and would return it to its rightful position soon(ish)" A spokesman said more information would be made available on Friday. Many thought the disappearance bore the hallmarks of a viral campaign, with cynics using the Twitter hash tag #MangoGate to poke fun at the incident. One meme pictured Miley Cyrus swinging on a giant mango wrecking ball — a reference to her recent pop music video.
"I'm looking for a large banana and pineapple," another wrote in cheeky email doing the rounds. "Wanting to make a huge fruit salad, and I already have the mango." The Sunshine Coast hosts the Big Pineapple and the Big Banana is found in Coffs Harbour, on the NSW north coast. News media outlets in Britain, which sends hordes of backpackers to Queensland's tropical coastline each year, have already jumped on the story, including the BBC and Telegraph. Bowen police said they were aware the mango was missing but no theft had been reported. "At this stage we're taking a soft approach and making our own inquiries," Mr McLaughlin told reporters. "I think it'll definitely turn up, no doubt about that. We're not sure what has happened but I'm sure we'll get it back." Tyre marks near the site suggested the culprits headed south on the Bruce Highway, the tourist centre said, but no sightings had been reported. A north Sydney advertising agency has also been uncovered as the author of a Tourism Bowen media release about the theft. The Guardian Australia examined metadata within a pdf file of the media release and found the author name of Banjo Advertising. Laurence Cronin, a senior writer at Banjo, reportedly said the agency was helping out a friend to find the missing mango, but could not categorically deny it was a marketing stunt. The monument was erected in 2002 as a tourist attraction to celebrate Bowen's claim of being the mango production capital of Australia.
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