Cape Town – With less than 20 days to the new year, fast food outlet Nando’s decided to spice things up, reminding South Africans of their potential to always sort things out.
In a cheeky television advertisement released on Monday morning, Nando’s South Africa reviewed the country's miraculous abilities, including getting "new finance ministers faster than we can get new eyebrows".
A clip of President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead is shown, followed by #paybackthemoney messages, with the narrator commenting: "We can lose our money... and get some of it back."
Highlighting the potential to make "miraculous recoveries", a clip is shown of a man resembling convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik on a golf course.
At times, citizens felt "doomed", the advert stated, followed by a clip of "prophets" spraying people with the insecticide.
Near the end of the one-minute advert, three people with bags of money in hand, resembling the controversial Gupta family, rush towards an SUV with the number plate "WE RUN GP".
As the individuals load the vehicle with priceless artifacts, the narrator says: "In South Africa, we've always fixed our sh*t and we can fix our sh*t again."
Doug Place, Chief Marketing Officer of Nando’s Southern Africa, said the company was trying to remind South Africans that, despite the current challenges, "we’ve overcome worse".
"We’ve always managed to find a way to fix and change what needs to be fixed and changed. It’s time we remember this and time for us to do it again," Place said.
Social media users have praised the advert.
"Hands down… this makes me wants me to go @NandosSA and eat something just because of that ad," @Tpabutterfly4 tweeted.
@pnnomzaza78 said Nando’s "got real balls" for making the ad "about South Africa and politics".
"I feel like Nandos has a lawsuit budget that is revised before they release an ad," @moebapey said to which Nando’s South African replied, "We can neither confirm nor deny this statement."
On Facebook, Michelle Matsetela May asked if she could work at Nando’s.
"I want the fire they have...lol love how they always push the limits," she said.
This is not the first time Nando’s has made headlines for tongue-in-the-cheek advertising.
Earlier this year its advert about mixed-race couples trended on YouTube after it played on the term "mixed race".
"You know you guys are so brave," a person said to a mixed-race couple. "I could never do it".
One of the partners replied: "Mixed race? It’s called a triathlon, Caryn."
