Images of some top Maori personalities in a commercial for a New Zealand vodka are causing quite a stir.

Vodka makers Forty Two Below say their latest ad, which depicts well-known Maori trading muskets for liquor, is supposed to be satirical.   

However, the Advertising Standards Authority doesn't see it that way and the ad has been pulled from radio and is now only shown on the internet.

The authority has already upheld several complaints. It found the ad breaches the code for liquor advertising, conflicts the moderation principle and contains negative social stereotypes considered culturally offensive.
 
Entertainer Sir Howard Morrison's image was shown in the ad until he demanded it be removed. He is now considering legal action.

And a shot of Tariana Turia twirling pois has outraged the Maori Party leader especially, she says, as she doesn't drink alcohol.

However, the company's chief executive Geoff Ross, is defending the ad. He said: "Of all the hundreds of people I've spoken to about it, they seem to love it. As New Zealanders they think we need to laugh at ourselves a little more."

Ross said he wanted humour like iconic comedian Billy T James, who was famous for poking fun at Maori idiosyncracies.

But Morrison takes a different view: "He's actually bastardising the integrity of our people by using them in caricature." 
 
Legal experts will gather at the University of Auckland on Tuesday to consider Maori intellectual property rights.
   
They hope the stand taken by high profile Maori like Howard and Dame Kiri Te Kawana will highlight the issue, and speed up the intellectual property right claims currently being made before the Waitangi Tribunal.