Selling a country of contradictions

Our country is a living contradiction. South Africa has a noble constitution with a world-leading Bill of Rights that legislates equality, social justice and democratic values. Yet we are a country of massive economic and social divides; in some economic categories we are among the most unequal in the world.

Won't be fixed overnight

Many of the challenges we face (a lack of service delivery, poverty, the growing divide between the ‘haves' and the ‘have nots', the ticking time bomb that is unemployment) are systemic and won't be fixed overnight. But there is a lot advertisers can and must do to build a commercial culture of unity.

A case in point is SABMiller's “Welcome the World” commercial for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which celebrates everything that's good about being South African. In stark contrast there's the opportunity lost, or more accurately put, opportunity solidly destroyed by Wines of South Africa. Looking at the two advertisements, you'd think we were living in two different countries.

Castle smartly builds unity

The Castle commercial cleverly captures the spirit of South Africa with the dream of an integrated society that can be brought together by the love of the game. Advertising's supposed to be aspirational and, after a gruelling news period that's torn this nation asunder, the Castle ad is like the hope for something better. At a time when we are feeling lost, divided and despondent, it is a reminder of what we once were, and those nation building moments that made us collectively proud.

An enthusiastic round of applause to SABMiller's advertising agency because it gets it. It just gets the soul of who and what being South African is... or at the very least what we could be.

Headed for trouble

Then there's the Wines of South Africa (WoSA) advertisement, which was likely made for a different audience, and certainly looks like it promotes a completely different country. One that's colonialist and decidedly white and waspish. OK, there's one black knee in the advert but for the most part it's a whiter shade of pale.

From the moment the Jan van Riebeeck lookalike steps off the boat, you just know this commercial's headed for trouble. As the advert unfolds, the wine maker is white and French-looking, the bikers are white and Germanic, the people enjoying wine at an outside café are (you guessed it) white and European-looking. There are a couple of people in period costume acting all coy in front of a Cape Dutch house, and, yes, they're white, too.

For those marketers who have been in a coma or living on a different planet for the past few years, let's spell it out for once and for all: Race is a big issue in South Africa.

Ignore this and you'll be perceived as naïve and unthinking, if you're lucky. More than likely, you'll be positioned as colonialist, racist, imperialist, prejudiced, stupid or ignorant.

The WoSA advert had a significant opportunity, given the quality and nature of the product it was selling. Who doesn't love South African wines and the Western Cape? Then there's the dream of welcoming the world to our neighbourhood for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Echoes a past we'd sooner forget

At best, the ad positions a prime tourism region as a colony devoid of cultural diversity. At worst, it displays imperialist undertones that are both unfortunate and ill-conceived. Apart from being technically shoddy and mediocre, the advert is ideologically fraught and doesn't sell South Africa or South African wines at all well.

An embarrassment right through to the clichéd firework finale, it's the kind of advert you'd expect from one of those apartheid-inspired agricultural boards - the type that flourished during that economic protectionist period. WoSA echoes a past we'd sooner forget.

A commercial culture that builds unity has never been more needed than now. But it's going to become more and more difficult to try and muster collective national emotion. The stark realities we face are enough to rattle even the most optimistic and confident of brand marketers or spin doctors.

Let's hope they take the high road

Nevertheless, marketers and brand owners can [and do] play a constructive or destructive role in shaping our country's commercial culture, and appealing to nation-building. And, at a time when our nation is fraught and divided, let's hope they take the high road.