Stop abusing Mandela!

How could one stoop so low as to insult this man!

I gave up listening to the radio a few years ago. Things were getting pretty bad and I couldn’t take it any more:

1. All the good DJ’s were being canned and replaced with nauseating teens (or adults with teen temperament)
2. Advertisements ruled the air. I’m sure 90% of the time between rambling-nutter teenage DJ’s was just a swarm of insurance, Coca-cola and CTM tile ad’s.
3. The other 10% of the time was filled with the monotonous banshee like droning of Rihanna, Beyonce, Shakira, Natasha Beddingfield…

I was quite content listing to my own CD collection and MP3 compilations for a while after I left radio. Then one day I got bored of music and turned on the radio to look for something with which I could drown out the tyre roar from my Corsa on long distance trips. I found SAfm, talk radio. Awesome stuff (apart from the daily soap and Sunday preaching) minimal adverts (the occasional reminder to pay your TV license) and an occasion track from a local band (outdated yes, but familiar and enjoyable most of the time).

I was really pleased with my new FM companion till Nelson Mandela day started encroaching on us. For those unfamiliar with the event:

“Mandela Day is a call to action for people everywhere to take responsibility for making the world a better place, one small step at a time, just as Nelson Mandela did.

Nelson Mandela spent more than 67 years serving his community, his country, and the world at large. On Mandela Day people are called to devote just 67 minutes of their time to changing the world for the better…”

Sure I have no beef with the principles behind Mandela day, It’s a great way to get people to be helpful and blah blah blah… There is one thing that did get to me though. Quite a few companies have seen this as yet another opportunity to take advantage of good natured people by using Mandela in their advertisements. I call these deceitful ad’ campaigns Black Mandela Ops (or BMO’s).

For example

A normal CTM tile advert: “Come to CTM for high quality imported tiles at low low prices. CTM More than you expect for less than you think!”

A BMO’ed CTM tile advert: “2 million children DIED from cold last year because of poorly insulated homes. We at CTM will donate one tile to these children for every 100 tiles that YOU buy to make a difference to their lives. CTM, we care about children, just like Nelson Mandela does. DO YOU?

Example number 2

A normal KFC advert: “The Colonel made sure he always used the finest secret spices and chickens to make KFC. We carry on that tradition with our new rounder burger with a hexagonal bun! KFC, it’s Fickin’ Good.”

A BMO’ed KFC advert: “Nelson Mandela reared chickens when he was a boy growing up in the Transkei. He loved those chickens, they provided eggs and nuggets on the cold winter days when he and his dear old mum were hungry. In fact if it weren’t for chickens Nelson Mandela might have starved to death as a young boy. Imagine a world without Nelson Mandela! We at KFC would HATE to live in THAT world. Thankfully we provide chicken to prevent such a catastrophe from ever happening again in the future. Buy KFC, do it for Madiba.”

Even the Blood donor notices have been BMO’ed: “…Donate blood, or Nelson Mandela will hate you…”

I can’t stand it! Even talk radio has been infiltrated by Black Mandela Ops. The whole 67 minutes thing… I bet there is some red eyed profit monger behind the entire ordeal. People should be nice to other (deserving) people all the time. Not just for 67 minutes for one day every year! I hate that Mandela’s good name is being used for promoting all this rubbish. People have lost the plot!