The Cybersmart radio commercial features a male voice singing about Cybersmart but using the South African National Anthem melody. At the end, the voice-over states, inter alia, “You don’t have to know all the words to get fast reliable Internet at the best price…”.<\/p>\n
The advert riled complainants Brian Bailey, Sherlayne Koonin, John McFarlane and B P OConnor, who feel that “the commercial is offensive because it is politically insensitive and denigrates and abuses a revered piece of music.”<\/p>\n
Cybersmart however argued that “the commercial is intended to portray, in a humorous manner, the phenomenon of many South Africans who have grown up listening to and singing the South African national anthem in circumstances where they sometimes do not know many or all the words.”<\/p>\n
“The underlying principle is that it is important to participate in the Internet experience even if you are not an expert at it, just as it is important to participate in the singing of the anthem even if you do not know all the words,” said Webber Wentzel Bowens Attorneys, on behalf of Cybersmart.<\/p>\n
The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa dismissed the complaint, saying that the offence caused is not serious, widespread or sectoral. <\/p>\n