Heat from suicide prevention advocates forces 'Hot As Hell Curry' name change

Christchurch suicide prevention advocates Waata Keating (left) and Graeme Russell (right) meet with Two Fat Indians owner Nasir Khan to accept his apology. Photo / Amber Allott

A Christchurch curry house has bowed to public pressure after being criticised for an insensitive hot curry eating competition.

Two Fat Indians has changed the name of its annual event from the "Suicide Curry National Championship 2019" to the "Hot As Hell Curry Championship".

Former suicide prevention worker Graeme Russell and suicide prevention advocate Waata Keating planned to protest the booked out competition tonight but Russell told the Herald they called off the protest after the restaurant changed the name.

Despite previously saying it was too late to rebrand the event, Two Fat Indians announced on its Facebook page this afternoon after the Herald revealed the story, that it was adopting the new name to avoid upsetting anyone.

Russell said instead of protesting he and Keating would now go to the restaurant to thank owner Nasir Khan for listening to their concerns.

"It's what we wanted. We've called the protest off. They've apologised and we're going to go down there and thank them. I think it's important to."

Earlier Russell, a former Young New Zealanders Foundation worker, said he was disgusted at the promotion because it made light of a very serious issue in New Zealand, where the country has one of the world's highest youth suicide statistics.

Russell and "No hui just doey" travelling suicide prevention advocate Keating had made a placard reading "Use your brain, not our pain" to hold outside the restaurant in Colombo St tonight while the curry eating competition took place.

Russell said he had received flak over the situation on social media including name-calling but was pleased with the overall outcome.

Earlier Khan told the Herald he was sorry if the name caused offence but it was too late to rebrand the event because he already had the winner's t-shirt made with the words "Suicide Curry" written on it, and a trophy engraved with the same name.

Khan said he planned to change the long-standing competition's name for next year but bowed to the pressure a few hours later.

The hugely popular competition attracts a loyal following and was on hiatus while the restaurant was closed until recently following the February 2011 earthquake.

Keating, who lost his older brother to suspected suicide in January 2017, has been driving around the country in a ute featuring the names of victims of suicide to get people talking about their loss.

He said earlier he couldn't understand why no one had spoken up before about the insensitive name and he hoped the restaurant would make a donation to suicide prevention organisations.