Have you guys seen the new Vodacom advert depicting some african president with his backward thinking?
I thought the ad is in VERY bhard taste. Especially after the whole drama with David Bullard's column. I don't know what the hell the creatives involved in that ad were thinking, or why the hell Vodacom was thinking okaying it.
Could it be they are highlighting the current state of affairs with a certain backwards african president?
*cough Mugabe
*cough Mbeki
*cough Omar Al-Bashir
The best part about being a democracy, is the ability to criticise those who fail to meet their promises.
What country is this in?
I must say, our spaza shops in SA are much better organised!
I'm saying Thailand, I recognise a few of the goods
Dubai,
*watching/reading bio-scop!
Heatwarmer, to respond to your thoughts.
During a CoffeeRoom session 2 weeks ago, somebody said (with respect to the Omo ad of black women washing the dirty clothes of a racially diverse group of children): "the excuse that the advert reflects the truth of reality is a canard, because by definition an advertisement is based on fantasy." [re-paraphrased, waiting on the transcript]
*sips on coffee.
hmm not sure it's Dubai, the water is namyeng, and she looks Karen/Thai or even Laosian.
Err Daniel son, Lebogang right. Tis Dooooooooooobai.
I'm shocked, she is Asian right? and that is Thai water on sale, so was this some Asian shop?
The advert is a joke Daniel - a piss in the face if you ask me.
They have a character that looks like Idi Amin saying stuff like Vodacom brags about email, "we had it first," the character saying pointing to his marathon runners.
Can't remember the rest...but basically the idea here is that the African man reckons that all this technology and innovation brought about by the white man, Africa had it first. The thing is though, you'd have to be stupid to compare the South African Postal Service, with say - email for instance.
I personally feel like the tone was derogatory - but hey, some of you may think I'm overreacting.
It just brought back that whole Bullard mess for me.
FURCK! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS, I meant Bali bru. Eish, BALI - certainly NOT Dubai.
Dead right there Dan. Eish.
*bows head in shame.
Thought it was somewhere Asian :0)
I need to see if youtube has this ad, or look out for it in teevee.
Does any1 have a link to the ad heartwarmer is talking about?
Ok just saw it on the break between sky news and i think you've taken it too literally.
at no point did they reference "the white man", they did reference "vodacom".
Not everything is about race, yes they are poking fun at certain African leaders who do act and live beyond their means (see my above *coughs), but it's far from racist.
Where did you get this white man reference from?
Does any1 have a link to the advert?
a lot of people didn't think the David Bullard thing was all that racist.
Its a toe-may-toe/toe-mah-toe kinda thing.
Vodacom...who are the majority shareholders there?
You reckon I take things too far when I say big business is white? Not everything is about race? Yeh, okay.
The Vodacom ad is just...well bad timing I reckon...maybe.
Vodacom shareholders are Vodafone and Telkom, you do the maths :0)
https://secure1.telkom.co.za/ir/about_us/board_of_directors/board_of_directors.jsp
Again, why do south africans have to apply colour to every facet of life? The telkom board is like many other boards around the world, full of people capable of doing the job (oh wow, wait, someone has colour!!!, yes business doesn't give a fuck if you are black/white/indian/pink or even green, as long as you earn the cash)
It's not always about colour and this is one thing that SA really needs to get over....
The foreigners are stealing our jobs
The white man is stealing our jobs
The Zulu is stealing our jobs
The Xhosa is stealing..
and so on
but it is about colour/race -- imagine 50/100/400 years of being treated different because of the colour of your skin.
and that is what the entire world needs to remember.
"foreigners" are not stealing our jobs, but they are likely to provide cheap labour which undermines what the trade unions go on strike for, year after year.
*returns to the corner.
ps: I saw the advert --- nothing racial in it, from my observation -- BUT it is in bad taste --- I get the supposed humour in it --- but I've never enjoyed any satire that depicts black (colour/race) people wrapped in stereotypes.
big lips, bucked(f7) teeth, sweating, bad/thick/broken english accent, bad dress sense, technologically inept,,,
but it is not what we are looking at that matters, it is what we see, individually, that creates a perception -- and to a great extent why visual creative arts exists.
*typing with one finger s tough --- I'm lying on the couch, wishing it was 9pm, so I can make a call. over share huh?
I reckon we currently have some of the least progressive unions in the world that seemingly cannot conceptualise beyond wage increments. It's as if we're back in the 50's when SACTU was established.
When SACTU did eventually get it's house in order they were able to challenge the govt & business on job reservation for people of no colour, as well as the discrepencies in wages between people of colour and people of no colour.
Why can't COSATU or any of the current unions challenge govt & big business on the issue of cheap labour, to end the nonsensical blaming of foreigners.
Someone hires the cheap labour, it doesn't do so by itself
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I caught a glimpse of the ad. I don't know... while I may agree partly with Lebogang on the issue of (derogatory) stereotypes, I seem to remember a certain show called the Pure Monate Show which did a particular recurrent spoof that was very similar to this ad.
Everyone laughed.
Maybe because it was done by young comedians of colour who were liked by all.
What's the difference between the Nyirenda/ The Beast spoof and the Vodacom ad?
Okay, so this is what I really think (and I've already said this), the ad was just bad timing. Another time, perhaps I would have thought it was funny. Perhaps. What Lebogang said there made me think of that movie - Bamboozled - and all 'them' stereotypes. "They ain't funny." Vodacom shoulda stuk with the meerkat Mo rather.
Danny (can I call you Danny) - you are such an idealist hey. That's cute. Sometimes I'm as idealistic as you are (some of my best friends are white, hehe) - but time and time again reality hits me smack in the face. Do you think a black creative is behind this ad? I already know you are going to say - it shouldn't matter if the creative is black or white hey. Hm.
Either way, its just very interesting how we see ourselves and each other.
AE- PMS vs Vodacom ad, you make a good point.
Would I feel differently about the Vodacom advert if say I knew a black person was behind it? Maybe, maybe not.
I really think for me it is about the current environment. When PMS was around, there was a feel good kinda air about. Things are kinda miserable right now, so I'm unlikely to be comfortable with the ad, especially after all that kak with Bullard. So like I said, I think its just bad timing hey.
I've killed for less (reference to being called Danny) :0)
LOL!
"I kil' fo' fun' - Scarface?
I suppose if you stand for something, you should then (ideally) be consistent with that standpoint regardless of the context.
if it's wrong and offensive to use the K-word for instance, it should be thus for all. How long did it take to get Irvin Khoza to apologise for instance, for using the K-word (and this was around the time of the trial of a certain young "white" man who callously opened fire on "black" people)? But when a member of the DA made remarks about the xenophobia situation last week, there was an apology (and a near riot in parliament) within 24 hours.
Both these instances were within a tense climate.
another eg
The was a quite a bit of furore from some sections of our society when the series "Coconuts" aired on M-Net.
Some called it racist, offensive, derogatory etc. Then many discovered that some of the writers include david kau, kagiso lediga and many erstwhile PMS stakeholders. Suddenly it became a little more acceptable (bar the M-Net mantle that it fell under)
fairplay
I don't agree with being consistent AE purely based on the fact that no day is like any other day.
I can't ever say I can be consistent about anything. Sorry bru.
I saw the ad too, and æ it did remind me of that skit - with Ed'son, Tha Beast Nyerere. Loved that skit man!
Like Lebogang, I didn't think it was overly racist, or even subtly so --
What it did remind me of is this idea of black inventors -- I don't necessarily want to call it an African American concept, but I do know that they generally promote it. This idea of building racial pride in knowing black inventors (like peanut butter). So I really took it with that association in mind.
If this ad has managed to gain such a strong reaction, then it is most certainly achieved its directive. So, heartwarmer it particularly breaks the mould of the brand because it is not meant to last. They didn't use Mo because this is a renegade ad.
It's meant to incite serious public reaction, someone is bound to complain to the ASA, the ad will be pulled off air, the brand would have received enormous word-of-mouth coverage -- which translates to consumer interest, and the brand would not have been damaged -- which means they can continue using Mo The Meerkat.
And don't forget people -- it is Loerie season! Them creatives need awards.
Some ads are created for the market -- and some are created for awards -- this here -- is one of them ads.
Brilliant advertising strategy: killing two birds with one stone!
Ain't nothing but the ad game in full effect.
heartwarmer: you'll be sad to discover that some of the most derogatory and gender insensitive ads in our media is created by black creatives.
Must Reaction to educate the Creatives!!
*credits mokete*
