#ILoveEatingRussians: Eskort campaign gets South Africa chuckling

10 Aug 2021

South Africa is the only country in the world where a nationally favoured delicious sausage is called a russian - and Eskort took advantage of this for a new, fun campaign.

Source: www.unsplash.com

In line with its usual marketing messaging, Eskort identified the endless fun to be had with this russian description, through a series of now-viral, unbranded spoof videos that capture this would-be ‘misunderstanding’.

Marcelle Pienaar, group marketing editor at Eskort, said, “We asked ourselves what would happen if anyone outside of South Africa caught the tail end of the fact that in South Africa, we eat russians (sausages). Capturing this fictitious, widely shared misunderstanding was used to tickle South Africa’s funny bone by holding the mirror up for us to see what we often accept as common language or ideas, for what they really are uniquely local.”

Russian tourists walking on the streets of South Africa in fear after finding out that South Africans enjoy cutting, frying, and eating 2-3 Russians with bread #ILoveEatingRussians pic.twitter.com/LSJF56Cj2h
— Mishka (@miishkasquiishy) August 5, 2021

The russian conversation series is the latest in a long line of cheeky South African content – from adverts to the tongue-in-the-cheek digi-series, Who Got Chowed, featuring the ever-popular Coconut Kelz.

The build up

On Wednesday, 4 August, a video started making the rounds. In it, a Russian is seen reacting to a ‘focus group video’ where excited South Africans respond to a staged question; ‘So how do you feel about eating russians?’

In the ‘shocking’ video, South Africans share how much they love and enjoy eating russians – deep-fried, boiled, microwaved, chopped in half – potentially graphic descriptions to anyone who is not familiar with our colourful way of talking. Unfortunately, a Russian vlogger finds the video and without context, he believes he’s looking at South Africans boasting about eating Russians. As you can expect, he goes crazy and tries to involve world leaders and the international media.

Just ran across a Russian vlogger’s video reacting to how South Africans call sausages “russians”. This is so hilarious, doesn’t he know we call sausages like that? ��#ILoveEatingRussians https://t.co/RrVYnzPgpv pic.twitter.com/EDzyuU2L6z
— lingsss (@lingsss_m) August 4, 2021

Before long the general public is being interviewed about the controversy by Russian and Chinese ‘news outlets’ and in a series of spoof street interviews people from around the world respond to the misunderstanding.

Eventually, the story ends up on the highest desk in the land; the Russian president. This is followed by ‘Putin’ being briefed by his council on the developing story, the video shows the Russian president reaching for the big red button, promising ‘pay back’ for the Russians who suffered this unimaginable fate.

What’s next?

This campaign will give voice and context to the latest Eskort TV commercial that will see the misunderstanding come full circle as South Africans weigh in on the drama. The ad will air for the first time on South African screens on Wednesday 11 August on E.tv between 7pm – 7.30pm and on SABC1 between 8pm - 8.30pm.

Make sure you don’t miss Coconut Kelz on the special episode of Who Got Chowed, as she personally visits the Russian president to clear up this misunderstanding.

“We South Africans have always had the ability to laugh at ourselves. It’s part of what makes us unique. As one of South Africa’s most loved brands, enjoyed every day across this country by people and families from every walk of life, we love celebrating what connects us,” said Marcelle.

Be sure not to miss the next chapter in the russian revolution.