While you're all gathered around the table for your Christmas dinner this year, we'd wager some good money that at least one middle-aged relative is going chime in with the phrase everybody gets so offended these days , blaming millennials for getting things banned in South Africa.
On the dinner-table-conversation bingo card, this one is a cert: Right up there with compliments about the gravy and jokes about one portly uncle being the first to dip in for seconds. There may be a bit more fuel added to this fire next week though, following the recent decision to pull a Chicken Licken advert from the air.
The Big John campaign flipped the script on colonialism, depicting a black South African rocking up in 17th-century Europe and declaring the land his. The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) said that the clip trivialised centuries of suffering and was therefore removed from all broadcasts.
However, pulling offensive adverts from screens is nothing new in this country. For decades, certain brands have pushed the envelope as far as they can, often profiting from the notoriety of the public outcry. We've compiled a list of our favourite commercials that have been banned in South Africa, ranging from the hilarious to the jaw-dropping.
Banned in South Africa our most offensive adverts: Malema gets stitched up by Nando's
Where else could we start with a banned in South Africa list than with a Nando's commercial? The chicken specialists went in hard, back in 2009. They lampooned then-ANC Youth League Julius Malema with a brilliant bit of puppeteering. However, some viewers found the depiction a little too close-to-the-bone.
The mocking of Malema's hand-actions, mannerisms and interpretation of basic maths lead to a fair few complaints some from the ANC finding their way to the ARB. The commercial was subsequently banned after its initial airing.
Pappa wag vir jou (Daddy is waiting for you)
This is perhaps one we can all agree is a bit too far. In fact, it was even used in Shrien Dewani's murder case by the defence, who argued that their client would face ultra-violent treatment if he was sent to a South African prison.
Scare tactics were used by the Drive Dry campaign to urge males in particular to avoid drink-driving. It starts like a dating commercial with a couple of men telling the camera what they want from a date.
It soon becomes obvious that these men are prisoners waiting for new inmates in a holding cell. It ends with a creepy toothless gangster saying: Pappa wag vir jou (Daddy is waiting for you). The advert did not survive long before it was replaced by an updated version.
DA and EFF stifled by political correctness Both the DA and the EFF fell foul of the SABC's commercial policy in 2014. With both parties taking shots at the ANC and making particular reference to the Marikana tragedy that claimed dozens of lives the state broadcaster rapped both opposition outfits for trying to incite violence .
Of course, this flimsy excuse did not hold up well with many South Africans. In the DA's clip, we can see a younger Mmusi Maimane rallying the electorate during his time as the Gauteng Premier nomination: Is there anything so wrong with this?
Likewise, Julius Malema back in the days when he used to wear a suit instead of red overalls was left feeling extremely hard done by when this ad was pulled. By Juju's recent standards, this campaign was sugary sweet:
SABC Perspectives advert
It's hard to keep track of what the SABC do and don't find offensive. It's been more than a decade since their perspectives advert got a run-out, and it properly rattled TV audiences across Mzansi. Which is strange, considering that it's not exactly a shocking idea.
The what if white people were treated like black people and vice versa angle isn't original, but there was something particularly jarring for some South Africans here.
The ad follows a day in the life of a white citizen who lives in a township, is frowned-upon by rich black people and culminates with him being falsely accused of a crime because all white people look the same . Judge for yourselves on this one, but we're not so sure this should have been banned in South Africa
Nando's dig up the dictators
Starting with a Nando's, ending with a Nando's. We once did a list on their 15 best adverts, and that's because their viral campaigns completely dominate the discourse. They've tackled everything from xenophobia to state capture, but we believe they hit their offensive peak back in 2012.
The video shows Robert Mugabe the former authoritarian leader of Zimbabwe preparing a dinner party for all of his dictator friends. Colonel Gaddafi, Sadaam Hussain and yes, PW bloody Botha are all catered for.
We then see Mugabe reminiscing about his fond memories of history's greatest monsters. We see him engage in a water gun fight with Gaddafi, and push Botha on the swings while he waves an old apartheid flag. As darkly-brilliant as this was, it crossed the line for the censors:
Tags: comedyNandosnandos adSouth Africa
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While you're all gathered around the table for your Christmas dinner this year, we'd wager some good money that at least one middle-aged relative is going chime in with the phrase everybody gets so offended these days , blaming millennials for getting things banned in South Africa.
