Of cheeky birds and lean thighs...

The Nando's parliamentary row with Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's flaming remarks last week about unhealthy fast food - in which she branded Nando's as an unhealthy choice of meal - made feathers fly further with a series of ads from The Jupiter Drawing Room for Nando's.

Speaking of the Ministry's Healthy Lifestyles Programme which encourages good nutrition, it was clear that the Minister did not do her homework before ruffling Nando's feathers.

'Let's see whose thighs are leaner, Minister...' was the cheeky response from The Jupiter Drawing Room, which penned and placed the ad within five hours of the Health budget speech. Creative director Ahmed Tilly asserts: "Nando's is a 'good food fast' outlet, not a regular fast food joint. The only food that is fast, is food for thought as is always the case with Nando's. The retort is true to Nando's maverick infamy, entrenching it as South Africa's most nutritious and irreverent chicken brand.

"The thrust of Nando's campaigns has and continues to be the nutritional value of its meals and its unique fat-free flame-grill method. While the Minister acknowledges her role as the steward of national health, '...trimmed of excess fat', then flame-grilled burning off even more fat, proves that her comments were nothing more than a tub of lard."