‘Kids get beaten up for free on Tuesdays’
FORGET fake news — it’s now fake advertisers jumping on the socialmedia bandwagon to make a quick buck from the web traction, and sometimes harming the brands they model their spoofs on.
Chicken franchise Nando’s — with its witty, thought-provoking campaigns — has fallen victim to quack advertisers many times, the latest example being a false advert in response to the notorious Spur fight during which a Gauteng man was captured on video threatening a woman with violence in front of children at a Spur outlet.
One fake advert, bearing a striking resemblance to the genuine thing, reads: “Got beef? Don’t kom to Nando’s”.
Another false offering with a Nando’s logo says: “Watch your mouth! Here the chicks klap back!”
The hype surrounding the incident also spawned a fake advert with Spur branding.
Titled “Spurred Steak Ranches”, the so-called advert says: “Got beef? Bring your fights to us, where our helpless staff are guaranteed not to interfere. Kids get beaten up free on Tuesdays. We cater for any kind of dispute you might have.”
Mark Farrelly, chief operating officer of Spur Corporation, did not comment on the fake advert issue, but said in a statement after the incident: “I too feel anger and resentment about much that happens in this country, but blaming Spur for these wrongs is ridiculous.”
Jacqui Mackway-Wilson, a digital marketing consultant and online safety activist, said if perpetrators were flushed out of hiding — which she conceded could be difficult — brands could take legal action for misrepresentation and infringement on the brand’s intellectual property.
“Fake advertisers most often are attempting to generate social-media traction — retweets, comments, shares and web traffic for revenue purposes, by creating fake adverts targeting well-known brands. There have been numerous instances where fake advertisements have caused brand harm.
“In some cases, the harm may be difficult to quantify as a fake advert impacts on the public perception of a brand — and once perception has been skewed or damaged, it is not only difficult to alter positively, but it will also have an effect on the consumer’s relationship with the brand,” she said.
Mackway-Wilson said it was difficult for most social-media users to distinguish between what is fake and what is not because they are not tech-savvy or are new to social media.
Doug Place, chief marketing officer at Nando’s South Africa, said fake adverts could harm the brand.
“While we are happy that our fans love our advertising so much that they make fake ones . . . the truth is that our logo and font are trademarked material and thus legally protected. Nando’s communication, like its chicken, is best developed by us,” he said.
Fred Makgato, head of legal and regulatory affairs at the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa, said while it had not received any complaints, “such advertising is prohibited in terms of the ‘misleading’ and ‘truthful’ sections of the code of practice”.