[Orchids & Onions] SuperSport scores a goal with rugby ad

The people who appear in the ads - all clutching hands on heart - are a veritable who's who of South African sport and entertainment. And it's fun to see how many of them you can spot. Princess Charlene of Monaco, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, singer PJ Powers, comedian Trevor Noah and Miss World Rolene Strauss.

Then there are the sports stars: the Proteas cricket team, World Cup 1995 captain Francois Pienaar, Stransky, Breyton Paulse, Chester Williams and John Smit. The people who did us proud.

You cannot watch this mini-documentary and not feel some small lump in the back of your throat, some small welling of pride. But SuperSport goes beyond the mere patriotic by bringing in other famous rugby players like nuggety former All Black Sean Fitzpatrick, Sam Warburton of Wales and former England
star Richard Hill.

It's a reminder that patriotism shouldn't go too far and it is the game of rugby which unites us, win or lose. The catchline, Our Hearts Are In It, sums up
everything perfectly.

Of course, patriotism and emotion don't get bums in seats or fingers on the remote control, so SuperSport reminds us it is broadcasting all 48 games in the tournament live. If you're a sports fan, you have now been primed. The spots work well as entertainment and a commercial promotion.

Orchids to DStv, SuperSport, their ad agency Ogilvy and Admit One Productions who produced the spots.

At the best of times, South Africans are a lawless bunch - nowhere more so than on the roads. So you would think an insurance company, peddling car insurance, would not want, in any way, to encourage illegal behaviour on our roads. Yet that is exactly what OUTsurance is doing in its latest TV ad.

It is all about the good deals which people can get (which I don't doubt) - and it showcases someone who could be a typical client. In this case, it is an upwardly-mobile hottie, Keniloe. We see her pull up and park her car (while there is some chat about what she would pay every month to insure it through OUTsurance).

But - and this is what annoys me - she carries on walking away, leaving her car in what is clearly a No Parking zone at a Gautrain station. I wonder what would have happened had Keniloe's car been rear-ended by a taxi, say, while it was parked illegally. OUTsurance would probably (and rightly so) repudiate Keniloe's claim on the basis that she was doing something illegal and that if she had parked legally, an accident may well not have occurred.

Onion to you, OUTsurance.

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