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A South African affair: Trevor Noah and Nando’s make fun of Elon Musk
Trevor Noah and Nandos had something to say about Elon Musk's space travel ambitions and plans to charge for Twitter verification ticks.
Elon Musk. Photo: Britta Pedersen / POOL / AFP
It’s open season on the new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, as his penchant for sharing a steady stream of his every waking thought with the world has left people feeling like they can speak to him and about him any way they please.
This includes commenting on his ambitions for space travel and plans to charge individual Twitter users a fee to keep the blue verification ticks on their profile.
Nandos goes to #Marzansi before Musk
Beloved South African fast food chain, Nando’s released a new advert, this time looking at the concept of #Marzansi – a portmanteau of Mars and Mzansi.
In the ad, a man steps out of a taxi after reading the paper and laughing that America has made Elon slow due to his announcement of plans to travel to the red planet in 2032.
He then speaks to the camera about how this “Mzansi life has been preparing us for years” and how we, as a people, always make a plan as he reports for duty at Quantum Leap HQ where everyone in the company is working towards innovations for life on Mars.
The innovations seen in the ad are all a play on the everyday problems South Africans have to contend with; from load shedding and recycling trolleys to quantum taxis and potholes.
“You see, no power doesn’t mean we’re powerless,” he concludes before the words “Amandla Awethu. Again,” [the power is ours. Again] flash across the screen next to a spacecraft.
Trevor Noah Slams Elon Musk’s $8 Verification Plan
Elsewhere, outgoing host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah slammed the fact that Musk plans to charge users $8 (R141) per month to have a blue check mark as part of a premium tier called Twitter Blue.
Variety reports that Noah referred to Musk as “the guy who always looks like a ghost, whether it’s Halloween or not,” in a recent episode of The Daily Show.
READ: Over 3 million people to fly to the moon on NASA’s Artemis I
The comedian argued that charging people for blue check marks goes against Musk’s mission of bringing free speech and equality to Twitter.
“So, here’s my question: If you’re trying to create equality on Twitter, why charge anyone to be verified? Just give everyone a blue checkmark then,” Noah said.
“Why are you charging people? It doesn’t make sense to offer it as ‘equality’ and then put a price on it, do you get what I’m saying? Can you imagine if MLK was out there like, ‘I have a dream. I have a dream… and I’ll tell you all about it for $8.99 a month.’ It wouldn’t be the same thing,” he quipped.
“With eight dollars a month, you can subscribe to Netflix, you can get Paramount+, you can get Hulu… or you can pay so that people verify that they’re actually shitting on you,” Noah said.
“It’s all about ‘equality.’ No, you’re trying to make money. I get it,” Noah continued.
“I think this $8 a month thing is ridiculous. If you ask me, if Elon Musk wants to make money from Twitter, what he should do [is], don’t charge people for blue checkmarks. Charge white people to say the N-word. Twitter will be the most profitable company in history. Racists will be taking out loans.”
Variety reports that Noah appeared to be referencing reports about use of the N-word spiking 500% on Twitter in the 12 hours after Musk took over the company.
“I will explain the rationale in longer form before this is implemented. It is the only way to defeat the bots & trolls,” Musk said, explaining his decision.
READ NEXT: Elon Musk announces $8 monthly charge for verified Twitter accounts
Compiled by Kaunda Selisho
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