MTN Ayoba ad not racist, rules ASA
MTN launched their summer 2009 marketing campaign on 15 October 2009, pushing the slogan “Ayoba”. According to MTN, “Ayoba” is an exuberant expression of general delight or approval, rather than a word with a specific meaning.
There has been an extensive advertising campaign built around Ayoba, featuring billboards, print advertising and television commercials amoung others. One television commercial however did not go down well with some South Africans, and one consumer lodged a complaint against the advertisement with the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA).
According to Miss Ashleigh Lauren Albertyn a commercial – featuring a white man wearing a g-string eating a doughnut at a swimming pool, with the ‘Ayoba ambassador’ saying “Eating doughnuts in a g-string. Not Ayoba” – is racist. Albertyn said that ‘the commercial is racist as everything portrayed as uncool involves a white person whereas everything that is cool involves a black person.’
The next scene shows a crowd of people standing around in a field, watching a car being spun in circles with a man standing on the open engine. The ambassador says, inter alia, “Doing doughnuts ka gusheshe.” Here Albertyn said that the “commercial advocates reckless behaviour by depicting spinning.”
A second complainant added that these stunts were dangerous and illegal on public roads. “While the scene showing the spinning car is not on a public road, it nonetheless shows clear disregard for the safety of the spectators as well as the man standing on the car without any safety gear. This is likely to encourage similar unsafe behavior,” the complainant said.
MTN responded, saying that the word “Ayoba” has its origins in street lingo as inspired by the urban township youth. The subtext of cool is that it is “cool” by the standards of these young black urban dwellers. Therefore, something can only be “Ayoba” if it has a certain amount of street cred. The goal of the campaign is to help all South Africans understand what “Ayobaness” is by drawing some analogies in certain contexts.
MTN added that it had no intention to advertise in a manner that offends the reasonable consumer or to discriminate against any person on any basis. “There was no intention to depict a certain race as ‘uncool’ and another as ‘cool’,” MTN said.
“The cast was chosen for their comedic value. A white man was chosen for the scene involving a g-string as they are usually worn by white people to increase the owner’s tanning area. This is described as not being Ayoba because it is not appealing to parade around that way in public. Black men are generally not known to wear thongs, so it would have been ridiculous to show a black man in a thong.”
MTN further explained that the scene depicting spinning was shot with the strictest safety measures. The individuals performing the stunts are highly trained stunt artists. “These artists often preach the importance of safety wherever they perform.”
ASA Ruling
The ASA said that the white character wearing a g-string is depicted in a manner that suggests he is not very fashionable. “This is, however, as a result of his questionable fashion sense, and not as a result of his skin colour,” the ASA said.
“The hypothetical reasonable person viewing the commercial would not be offended by the depiction of the white man as being uncool. Instead, one would consider the scene to be a humorous comparison of “eating” a doughnut to “doing” a donut. The scene is clearly an exaggeration to prove the point, and does not comment on white people, or in fact the white character.”
The ASA subsequently ruled that the commercial is not offensive or discriminatory.
MTN was however not so fortunate when it came to the aspect of safety and encouraging dangerous behavior.
The ASA said: “While the respondent confirmed that safety precautions were taken, this is not at all clear in the commercial. It has often been held that to the viewer, perception is reality. In this context, the commercial shows no warning from the performers, no safety gear, and no general safety precautions.”
The ASA said that the disregard for safety shown in the commercial is not reasonable and justifiable, and ordered MTN to withdraw the commercial with immediate effect.
MTN Ayoba ad racist? Give your views
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