About time, too! A cute reminder to a dictator who has been in power since February 1980.
Via: http://bouffant.tv/welcome/
"The brand new entertaining spot directed by Dean Blumberg hits a funny nerve by tapping into the spirit of our times. Dean delivers a spot that surprises the viewer with unexpected twists by cleverly capturing the world’s most notorious dictators and making the viewer want to watch the ad again and again to see if they have actually seen and heard right."
The ad opens with a Robert Mugabe lookalike picking up a Muammar Gaddafi place card from an empty dinner table. In a dream sequence the Mugabe actor is seen sitting mournfully in a garden when the deceased Libyan dictator covered his eyes with white-gloved hands, then starts a waterfight with a golden AK-47. Next, he sings karaoke with the late Mao Tse-Tung of China, makes sand angels with Iraq's Saddam Hussein, pushes the swing with South African apartheid leader, Pieter Willem Botha, and in a scene parodying Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio from the Titanic film, he is seen riding on a tank with Uganda's Idi Amin, also deceased. Then the tagline -- "no one should ever have to eat alone so get a Nando 6-pack meal...." The song in the video is "Those Were The Days" sung by Mary Hopkins.
As you can imagine, this was not received well in Zimbabwe. BBC reports that Nando's South Africa has pulled the ad due to threats to its staff. Excerpts:
"We've noted with concern the political reaction emanating out of Zimbabwe, including perceived threats against Nando's Zimbabwe's management, staff and customers," Nando's South Africa said in a statement.I learn something new everyday. Robert Mugabe has values. LOL!
"We feel strongly that this is the prudent step to take in a volatile climate and believe that no TV commercial is worth risking the safety of Nando's staff and customers."
Nando's South Africa decided to axe its commercial after Mugabe loyalists from the Chipangano group had called for a boycott and other unspecified punitive action against the company.
"We condemn such adverts because it reduces our president to be someone without values," Chipangano leader Jimmy Kunaka told the BBC's Brian Hungwe earlier this week.
Related posts:
- Arab Spring Not Done Yet, Who's Next Among the World's "Forever ...|Oct 20, 2011
- Where could #Gaddafi go if he were exiled? Somewhere where he ...|Feb 26, 2011
- Ambassador McGee Slogs on in Fruitcake Bob's Zimbabwe | Diplopundit Jan 29, 2009
- In Zimbabwe, Darkly | Diplopundit |Feb 03, 2009
- Shock and Awe: The Zimbabwe Edition | Diplopundit | Feb 10, 2009
- Where, Oh Where: Secretary Rice's Final Visit | Diplopundit |Dec 21, 2008
- The Zimbabwe Tinderbox | Diplopundit | Jun 06, 2008
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