It’s not legal in South Africa for one brand to mention another in their marketing or advertising, so Burger King SA may have been driving a bit close to the edge in its recent marketing campaign.
On Wednesday, it launched a supposed “third wheel” friendship promotion that’s giving away free vouchers, and in its promotional pic two people can be seen enjoying their Burger King meal at one of their restaurants while a character who looks suspiciously like Ronald McDonald sits forlornly on its own in the background.
McDonald’s wasted little time by responding within hours to this obvious dig at its brand and mascot.
They tweeted a quote from reality show star and presenter Bonang Matheba: “… they have to talk about you. Because when they talk about themselves, nobody listens.”
For some, it was a vicious burn from McDonald’s.
Not to be outdone, though, Nando’s decided to join in and tagged Somizi Mhlongo late on Wednesday night.
At this point it was all starting to get way too weird, since everyone knows it’s pretty cold to mention Somizi and Bonang in the same breath nowadays.
The former besties regularly throw shade at each other, a fact few on Twitter missed – though one person had to explain it to some of the others.
Some, though, just want to see South Africa’s most popular take-away chain, KFC, get in the ring.
Nando’s appears prepared for that though.
It seems social media is becoming a stomping ground for brands to troll each other. Netflix SA recently posted an ad on Twitter that was obviously poking fun at MultiChoice, which is yet to retaliate.
The pay-TV operator asked for web-streaming services to be regulated in South Africa, which is currently not the case.