Brandhouse tolerant of spoof ad

Johannesburg - Brandhouse has tracked down the creator of the fake Windhoek Lager ad that has gone viral - but it's not taking any punitive action.

"We met with the individual who created these ads, acknowledged his creativity and celebrated his passion for the Windhoek brand," says Brandhouse corporate and brand PR manager Priscilla Singh.

The ad is a spoof of the popular TV commercials with Louis Gossett Jnr. where he advises the beer's enthusiasts to "keep it real".

The spoof followed the butchering of South Africa's national anthem by supposed reggae artist Ras Dumisane before the Springbok/France match on November 13. It contained the words- "What are you doing Ras. We don't smoke before we sing the national anthem Ras."

In current parlance, an ad is said to become viral when it becomes the subject of gossip and spreads by "word of mouse".

Singh adds that the bogus ad came to their attention four days after the match where the Springboks, who were clearly thrown off course by the singing, suffered a thrashing by the French.

The timing was spot on but Brandhouse distanced itself from the work, and announced its intension to find the originator.

The distributer is now singing a different tune, "We appreciate that the campaign has such a great impact and look forward to seeing how our consumers continue to keep it real."

Efforts put into tracking down the "perpetrator" are now being explained as part of a "standard intellectual property protection process" by Singh.

She goes on to describe the work as a sign that the success of the campaign "has obviously resonated strongly with consumers".

Tim Byrne, CEO of Grey, comments that marketers should welcome spoofs that become talking points about a brand. He maintains that if something has already gone viral, there isn't much to do, especially if it's not harmful.

His view on work that is disparaging is clearer, "it should be nipped in the bud"

"The ad even raised question of ambush marketing. After initially placing an ad of this nature in both the spoof and ambushing category, he concludes that it was just the former because it had the brand's name and wasn't trying to promote anything else.

Intellectual property is the bigger issue; knowing how best to deal with such a situation is tricky, especially in an environment where it's easy to do and spreads almost instantly, according to Byrne.

- Fin24.com