Naco Advert Analysis

This satirical advert by Nandos (A South African fast-food franchise) adopts several widely-accepted cultural and ethnic stereotypes and manipulates them, using their own benighted logic to prove their falseness. The advert expertly weaves in subtle ironic sentiment together with inspired witticism, leaving the underlying message of the advertisement to be interpreted through suggestive innuendos. However, these ostensibly simple euphemisms cannot be easily apprehended without a clear understanding of the social and political scene within South Africa at the time of this advert’s release. The purpose of this thesis will be to dissect and analyze this unique cultural context and provide an understanding of the various ideas, stereotypes and

Up until 1990, South Africa was governed under an oppressive apartheid system which subjugated all non-white (non-European) citizens. Non-white citizens were forced to live in separate and isolated locations; they were forced to carry “passes” or identification documents with them at all times in order to travel from place to place; they were provided with separate public amenities, such as public bathrooms and even park benches. The main proponents of this legislative discrimination were the National Party, a predominantly Afrikaans political group which functioned as a totalitarian dictatorship, subjugating the non-white demographic majority of South Africa. However, in 1990, under immense pressure abroad and from conscientious objectors at home, the process of repealing the Apartheid laws began; and in 1994 the first fully democratic elections were held in South Africa in which all races, demographics and creeds were represented inclusively. The result: Nelson Mandela was elected the first black president of South Africa and the age of subjugation and inequality had finally come to an end. From an objective first glance this may seem as the perfect happy ending; however, the truth of the matter is far less romantic. South Africa is still riddled with inherent racial prejudices that have recurrently threatened to boil

Thus, they disappear. The implication is that South Africa will finally become the utopia it has always dreamed of now that all the meddlesome, perfidious foreigners have evaporated into thin air.

However, at the end of the advertisement there is only one individual left: the indigenous San bushmen wearing his tribal clothes, wielding a bow and arrow and looking decidedly unimpressed. The tribesman proceeds to declare that he is not going anywhere (using an indeterminate profanity), before running off into the wilderness. The omniscient narrator than wisely declares “Real South Africans love diversity” before introducing the new “diverse” product that Nandos has surreptitiously decided to add to their menu amidst this crisis of