Let’s get a positive lesson OUT
AEDITOR’S VIEW LL SORTS of reasons have been advanced as to how OUTsurance got a Father’s Day advert so horribly wrong.
The intention of celebrating fathers is one thing, but to do it with an ad which features predominantly white fathers and their children left many wondering if the insurance giant, which has enjoyed such success through innovation, appreciates who its client base or wider South African audience is.
To add insult to injury, in apologising, responsibility was not shouldered by one of the key executives, but passed down to a junior who one must try to believe had been given free rein to create and upload an ad for such an important company without any internal control mechanisms.
It’s puzzling that head of marketing Peter Cronje said this was the first time the company had had problems with its ads because staff make sure they are representative of the country’s demographics. This despite the company having run a similar campaign for Mother’s Day last month.
Was the marketing department living under a rock, that they did not appreciate how sensitive the race issue is in this country, or how easily they could damage their brand? As an insurance company with insight into their clients, surely they understand the complexities of our milieu and the need to tread carefully?
According to research, only about one third of children in this country live with both their biological parents; many do not know their fathers or, if they do, may not live or have regular contact with them.
While we can and should celebrate fathers in general – including those who take on that responsibility – the narrative of one group of fathers only playing with their children is a no-no, as it inadvertently creates assumptions about other fathers and their children.
Social media, the platform for which the ad was created, was quick to point out that it was not representative, and therefore insulting. Commentators have suggested the reason OUTsurance got it so wrong may be because the senior management of the brand are not representative or in tune with the population it serves.
Hopefully they and other brands will use the lesson to positive effect and come up with innovative advertising narratives that all South Africans are able to relate to.