Lowe South Africa is currently subject to what effectively constitutes a media blackout following instructions from Lowe & Partners headquarters in London to decline media interviews. The Johannesburg office of the agency was heavily criticised in media and on social platforms for an ad it produced for Unilever margarine brand Flora that was deemed homophobic by critics.
Category archives: Adland
Pendoring Awards promises ever-greater diversity
by Herman Manson (@marklives) This year the Pendoring Awards will yet again be sidelined by the Creative Circle, even as it shares the Creative Week stage with the Loeries. The Loeries remains the only local creative award that counts to the Creative Circle points system, except for their own Ad of the Month of course.
ASA kills ‘blackface’ ad
The Advertising Standards Authority has ordered the controversial ‘blackface’ ad produced by Lowe Cape Town for Cape Town Fish market be withdrawn.
The ad in question references a stereotypical ‘African Dictator’ – with an actor in blackface and wearing an Afro – diverting funds into his “expense account.” The ad, which consists of various vignettes, features the same actor also playing a prostitute, a dodgy doctor, porn director and rental agent.
The Switch: At a coffee shop, drinking tea
by Alistair Mokoena. The raison-d’etre of a coffee shop is not to sell coffee but to provide an experience that is created around conversations. This is based on a very simple but powerful insight.
Lowe + Partners apologises for ‘homophobic’ Flora ad
See Lowe + Partners criticised for ‘homophobic’ Flora ad See Unilever calls Flora ads ‘offensive and unacceptable’ Lowe + Partners has posted an apology on its Facebook page following criticism on an ad campaign for Flora deemed homophobic. Flora owner Unilever had already distanced itself from the ad saying the ad ‘was not approved by …
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Unilever calls Flora ads ‘offensive and unacceptable’
Unilever has issued a statement distancing itself from an ad for margarine brand Flora and criticised as homophobic by various news outlets and social media users.
Lowe + Partners criticised for ‘homophobic’ Flora ad
by Herman Manson (@marklives) Agency Lowe + Partners is having a rough couple of months. First its Cape Town agency faced international criticism for using blackface in a TV ad for client Cape Town Fish Market. Now the Johannesburg agency faces another backlash, this time for what critics suggest is a homophobic ad for Flora margarine. The ad, on a pink background, displays the words ‘Uhh dad, I’m gay’ in the shape of a bullet, heading for a porcelain heart. The tag-line reads “You need a strong heart today”.
MetropolitanRepublic Cape Town means business
by Herman Manson (@marklives) MetropolitanRepublic recently launched its new Cape Town office under the leadership of Josie Fisher. The agency is renting an impressively large open plan office space in trendy De Waterkant. Still mostly empty of people Fisher and her team sees the office as an expression of confidence in their ability to scale quickly an win new business.
M&C Saatchi Abel revenue jumps 80%
by Herman Manson. M&C Saatchi Abel, the agency launched by Mike Abel and a senior team just over three and a half years ago, is expected to hit R100m in annual revenue (not billings) by the end of this year.
The Ad Contrarian: Four reasons for advertising’s radical remake
by Bob Hoffman (@adcontrarian) Marketers’ immoderate obsession with dubious metrics is having a profound influence on the nature of advertising. More than any other trend, this may be the one that has the longest, largest and most detrimental effect on the ad business.