Kannan Suseelan, the man responsible for a whole day of cheaper petrol in central Auckland today, says the real hero was his dad.
Kannan, 31, is the first winner of new competition called 'Local Hero', masterminded by AA Smartfuel and BP.
The promotion is designed to find four lucky winners who activate their new AA Smartfuel/Countdown Onecard, available at BP, online and who are chosen in a random draw. They win $5000 each but, more importantly, their four home towns will benefit from 10 cents per litre off BP fuel for an entire day for all registered AA Smartfuel cardholders.
Today is that day for the first win - all part of the launch of the new co-branded card which offers significant fuel and grocery discounts in a single card, with Countdown the grocery partner.
Ironically Kannan, the first $5000 prizewinner in the 'Local Hero' promotion, is a Countdown staff member, permitted to take part in the promotion as it did not involve Countdown. He is part of the supermarket's online team - actioning the wishes of thousands of customers who shop for groceries online, taking advantage of Onecard savings while also arranging for their shopping to be delivered or picked up at the supermarket at a time of their choosing.
AA Smartfuel director Ian Sutcliffe says the first prize draw means registered AA Smartfuel/Onecard holders in central Auckland are able to benefit from a whole day of cheap petrol (10c per litre cheaper at participating BP stores) today.
Auckland is divided into five regions for the promotion, with Kannan's "home town" of Hillsborough qualifying the Auckland central region for cheaper fuel - with BP stores in Fanshawe St, Herne Bay, Newmarket, Mt Eden, Ellerslie, Mt Roskill, Epsom, Meadowbank and Waiheke geared up to sell petrol discounted by 10c a litre today.
Sutcliffe says all registered cardholders who fuel up at those stores will receive the cheaper petrol today; drivers do not have to live in the "home town" area.
So while Kannan is a 'local hero', he has a hero of his own - his father Suseelan who passed away in 2008.
Traditionally many Indian boys take their father's first name as their surname, as did Kannan when he lived in his native Kerala, the tropical state on India's Malabar coast.
"He was a good person - but I really didn't appreciate that until I was older," says Kannan who came to New Zealand several years ago after wife Sunidha studied here; they have an eight-year-old son, Sabbharath.
"I was a pretty naughty kid but I realised when I was older that my father never scolded me the way many other dads did - always complaining about their children. I tested him but he never scolded me or mistreated me - and sometimes you just need a bit of maturity to see things like that.
"It wasn't until I got married, had commitments of my own and opportunities like coming here to New Zealand that I understood how good my father had been with me."
Suseelan was a freelance photographer, specialising in events, and Kannan still has some of his effects, including the big wooden box his dad used to lug around with him containing his photographic gear.
"He would have really liked to hear that I won this competition and caused a lot of other people to get cheaper petrol," he says. "He was a good man."
Just as photography has changed hugely, so has retailing - with Kannan among those charged with helping change the typical trolley-and-checkout style of supermarket shopping to an online experience.
"It is just getting busier and busier," he says of his job. "More and more people are choosing to shop that way."
As befits a good internet-adopter, Kannan has downloaded the AA Smartfuel app - which keeps track of all the fuel savings that can be made by using the card at participating service stations and Countdown.
A cardholder for about two years, he knows exactly how much he has saved at the pumps - almost $200, according to the app.
"My father would have considered that a really good deal."
Click here for more information