Forest & Bird, a conservation organization in New Zealand, annually holds a contest to elect the Bird of the Year, in order to raise awareness for some of the threatened native birds in New Zealand. The pūteketeke (Podiceps cristatus australis) was first recognized in 1844 as a subspecies of the great crested grebe and is native to Australia, Tasmania, and the South Island of New Zealand. Currently, there are fewer than 3,000 of the pūteketeke birds left in the wild.
Catching a whiff of the Bird of the Year contest, the staff of the late night show Last Week Tonight contacted the organization to ask them if they can campaign for the pūteketeke, to which they agreed. So, John Oliver released a worldwide campaign on behalf of the endangered bird. He and his team put out billboard ads in different parts of the world to convince people to vote for the pūteketeke. With all that effort, the pūteketeke won first with 290,374 votes, a landslide victory over the rest of its competition. Second place was taken by the North Island brown kiwi with 12,904 votes.
(Image credit: JJ Harison/Wikimedia Commons)