Fruit vendor kicks away a smoke bomb in the new Nandos ad | Image: Youtube
All eyes have been on the recently rebranded ABSA after restaurant chain, Nando’s took a jab at them in their latest TV ad.
The ad, set in the Johannesburg CBD, pokes fun at the abstract, afro-futurist aesthetic recently adopted by brands like Absolut Vodka and ABSA.
The bank recently revealed their revamped look and feel, accompanied by a word they had made up – ‘africanacity,’ while the vodka brand has just completed a campaign in which they sought to redefine African art.
In the ad, directed by Cannes Lion award-winning director, Tebogo Malope, two models are seen seductively advertising a bottle of ‘african nasti’, branded in the same fashion as the new ABSA logo.
Two models poke fun at ABSA in the new Nandos ad | Image: twitter.com
Actor, Hamilton Dlamini, went on to ask if this was how things were to be sold. “The face paint. Neon. Burning TV’s. Hashtags. Oily running guys? The voice I’m doing?” he asked.
Absolut Vodka brand ambassador, Khuli Chana, even makes a cameo in the ad as a civilian trapped in traffic caused by a man in an afro-futurist contraption.
Absolut immediately responded to the jab by addressing Khuli Chana directly.
ABSA, on the other hand, took a few days to get their act together and clapped back at Nandos with the following response.
Capitec and Nedbank got in on the fun.
While FNB and Standard Bank were nowhere to be found.
Social media users were not amused with the clapback however and felt as though the bank could have done better.
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