Santam vs Nando's an unlikely duel

We have all come to expect something from the people behind Nando's advertising. They always seem to be able to produce something that brings a smile to one's face. Sometimes the adverts are deemed a little to risque like their 'Last dictator standing' advert which was ultimately banned from airing.

This time they have responded to an insurance company advert. The insurance company advert is clever in that gets you to start noticing things that you don't normally notice, as in the fine print, of for example your insurance contract. Watch the advert here.


Nando's, the popular fast food chicken chain, created this advert as a bit of a tongue-in-chick (cheek) response. Instead of the fine print of the contract they talk about the menu but in the same style and manner as the Santam advert. See it here.


This is normally where it ends as most companies that get spoofed by an Nando's advert normally object and go the boring legal route and get the advert banned. Thankfully for a company that is 94 years old they too have a sense of humour and responded brilliantly with this advert.


If only companies could be this way more often and avoid the courts and embrace the challenge, unlike some very standard bank.

Last dictator standing

In an earlier article I talked about the standard of advertisements in South Africa and how they seemed to be getting better. One of the main reasons for South Africa having good advertising is the Loerie Awards. The awards were designed to inspire advertising agencies to continuously push the limits of advertisements and create new and innovative ideas.

One of the best advertising campaigns has got to be the Nando's adverts. The fast food chain has had so many brilliant adverts over the last few years across all forms of media. Their ads have ranged from rogue blind dogs to issues of illegal immigration and more often than not they capture the political climate in the country and more recently worldly events.

In their latest advert, they have created a viral hit of epidemic proportions. "Last Dictator Standing" is the newest advert and we see look alike dictators reminiscing about the old days. Robert Mugabe and Gaddafi are seen playing with water guns in the form of AK-47's and karaoke with Chairman Mao, making sand angels with Saddam Hussein and even swinging with P.W. Botha.

Although the reaction to the ad has been brilliant, it even earned a spot on TIME's Newsfeed. The majority of people surveyed all enjoyed the ad as pure entertainment but were unsure of the actual product offering, Nando's 6 Pack meal, which includes 1 ½ flame-grilled chickens, two large portions of fries, a pile of bread and some Liqui-Fruit for R170)

You can see the Ad here.

Related articles

• Colonel Gaddafi and Robert Mugabe shown in water-gun fight in new Nando's ad (mirror.co.uk)
• New Nando's Last Dictator Standing Commercial (great-ads.blogspot.com)
• Last dictator standing: Robert Mugabe has no friends! (dangerousminds.net)