Flour ad shows print media still reigns Supreme

GOOD graphic design, which showcases a clever or appealing slogan or catchphrase in a frozen moment, still works in this age of pixels, videos and screens.

I was taken aback at how effective it was recently because I am not normally someone who pays any attention to things like baking flour.

Yet, as I turned to the letters page of The Star, I was instantly distracted by the ad on the opposite page. It was a sprinkling of white flour upon which someone had written, using a finger, the phrase “100% additive free” and then put a circle around the words. Now, I am not exactly the most health-conscious person I know, but I know that additives in what we eat are becoming a serious concern to many people.

So that phrase grabbed my attention. Mainly because I would not have thought – okay call me ignorant – that such a simple cooking ingredient as flour would have had any additives. Some, which is being sold, though, does have additives.

So I continued to read the ad for Supreme Flour. It read: “Since 1919, Supreme has been bringing top quality wheat flour and consistent results to South Africa’s professional bakers.

“What few bakers know, is that Supreme Wheat Flour is also unbleached and additive-free. No chemicals have been used to whiten our flour, and no enzymes or oxidising agents have been added.”

The ad did have a disclaimer – in smaller type it is true – but it’s there nonetheless in the interests of honesty.

The ad made me think that perhaps it is worth paying a bit more attention to ingredients that go into our bodies.

And, naturally, that Supreme Flour (which bills itself as the Baker’s Choice since 1919) might be worth looking at.

However, it was the striking design – albeit simple – which caught my eye in the first place. Print still works.

What was interesting, for me, was that the ad ran on the back page of the Business Report section… and that placement made it almost magnetic for anyone reading the letters page opposite.

An Orchid for Supreme Flour – and your graphic designer and copywriter.

Not long ago I was sitting at the Mugg & Bean, Boskruin, having coffee with a friend. There was a silly little plastic home-built kit car parked in a disabled bay. I thought it was odd that a disabled person would drive such a car because of the difficulty getting in and out. No mystery, as it turned out: Just a normal, healthy Joburg pig. The man, in his fifties with sandy hair (if you know him pass on my curses), paid no heed to my shouted comments and drove off.

It summed up for me the increasingly lawless behaviour of many South Africans who would not hesitate to rail against the decline of the country under the ANC-led government of Jacob Zuma. You, man in the horrible kit car, are no different to someone who soaks up R250 million of taxpayers’ money on his homestead while people starve.

Still in that angry frame of mind, I drove past the Worldwear Shopping Centre, which is a fading centre near the N1 highway on Beyers Naudé Drive.

As I sat in traffic, I glanced across at a lurid pink sign exhorting me to #SHOPBIG. Then I looked closer. A good number of the indigenous trees which had been planted on the verge of the road 20 or so years ago had been chopped down.

If they had still been there, the sign would not have been visible.

So Worldwear Centre, who gave you the right to hack down trees which belong to the community? And, all in the name of clearing the view.

If that is the way you do business, then it is no surprise that your centre is in decline. Just look at the number of empty shops to see if I am right.

I remarked to someone a few years ago that I thought the concept of an organisation called Business Against Crime was quite priceless because a lot of business in South Africa is a crime.

Another example. An Onion for the Worldwear Shopping Centre.

The story may have a happy ending, though.

I reported the tree felling to Joburg City Parks, frankly not expecting much. Three minutes after I hit send (truly three minutes) I got a reply from Melissa Hartland, digital marketing officer at Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo. She assured me they were aware of the incident and were investigating.

“The culprits will be fined and ordered to replace the trees – the same size and species,” she said.

That is also a great indication of the power of digital media as a response mechanism. So an Orchid to City Parks for good marketing.