When love took wings, cynical brands licked their lips

Much has been made of the impact that social media has had on the youth and society at large. This is reflected through the rise of cyberbullying and clout-chasing influencers. But what of brands and corporations? Has social media deluded them too?

Lovebirds Hector Mkansi and Nonhlanhla Soldaat are SA’s new favourite couple, since their KFC proposal. In the early aftermath of the video going viral, the advertising and marketing personnel behind many of SA’s brands started to scamper around, racking their brains to figure out ways that their clients could capitalise on the love story.

Things soon began to snowball as financial services providers, car manufacturers, celebrities and artists alike all began to throw their hats into the collecting basket, each pledging to offer their services in preparation for “the big day”, some even attempting to play the long-term game by offering the couple favourable interest rates on loans.

I’m convinced that all those who pledged did so to drive their own social media engagement. Brands have woken up to the fact that for a product or service to thrive it must directly speak and appeal to the black middle and working classes.

Mkansi and Soldaat represent an authentic yet unremarkable South African love story. But corporate creatives realised this was a way for their clients to communicate an important message.

“See? We, too, care about black people!

And while we have your attention, be sure to visit our website, download our app and like our social media pages too.”

For years, South African businesses have neglected opportunities presented by the black majority. However, as calls for industry transformation and better representation have grown louder, advertising and marketing departments have done a 180° pivot. Their new approach is to pander to whatever “Black Twitter” applauds, with campaigns streamlined to appease this audience. My message to them is: us black people are not stupid and can see through this farce.

Mondli Mpumelelo Hadebe, Cape Town