Noah and Thusi have ‘X factor’ among youth
MIRROR, mirror, on the wall, which brand do our kids think is coolest of them all?
Well, according to the Sunday Times Generation Next youth survey, for the third year running, no one has swagger like Nike.
Now in its 13th year, the Generation Next survey, released this week, gathered data from nearly 12 000 youngsters aged between eight and 24 in six provinces. The participants were from urban and peri-urban communities.
Comedian and The Daily Show host Trevor Noah emerged the coolest local screen or TV star, followed by actress Pearl Thusi, who stars in US series Quantico.
Cricketer AB de Villiers continued his reign as the coolest local sportsperson, with Olympic gold medallist Wayde van Niekerk and Kaizer Chiefs star Siphiwe Tshabalala trailing behind them.
Convicted murderer Paralympian Oscar Pistorius managed to sneak into 10th position in the same category, having placed eighth last year.
In a nod to South Africa’s love for football, Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo was the coolest international celebrity, ahead of Rihanna and Beyoncé, who came in fourth and fifth respectively.
Chris Brown was the second-coolest international celebrity.
Babes Wodumo’s star continues to rise as she was voted coolest local female celebrity.
“The youth are all about celebs who have an international impact, representing South Africa in a positive way,” said Catherine Bothma, MD of HDI Youth Marketeers, which does the survey.
DStv got the coolest company accolade, while Lamborghini was the most-loved ultra-luxury car.
Young people looking at something more down to earth thought Mercedes-Benz was in vogue.
Samsung’s cellphones were voted the best, with Vodacom the favourite network.
You will not find a cooler social media platform or app than WhatsApp.
Buying music on the web is fashionable — the Google Play Store and Apple Music were the favourite online or physical retailers.
Local content dominated the TV soap category, which featured two international shows. SABC1 drama Uzalo came out at the top. Despite perennial protest action or perhaps because of it, the University of Cape Town was crowned the coolest university, followed by the University of Johannesburg. You are reading the coolest weekly newspaper, with the Daily Sun assuming the position of the coolest daily newspaper. Surprisingly, for those who believe that young people are selfobsessed, the survey found that the most important things to them are family and religion. “Education and spirituality are the big themes in this year’s study,” said Bothma. “Without a doubt, young people view self-enrichment as very important. “Only nine years ago the youth couldn’t live without their cellphones and money, whereas this year, those have fallen to fourth and fifth place, making space for family, religion and education.” She believes the results indicate young people’s desire to engage with brands that care about the work they do in communities and try to make a difference.