Mahindra send-up tops
ORCHID: TURNING WORLD OF MACHO-NESS AND BAKKIES UPSIDE DOWN
Onion for Mediclinic’s ‘competition’ revealing that it can’t be trusted.
When it comes to macho, there are few products more oozing in testosterone in this country than bakkies. Rough, tough and hard to bluff, as our army sergeant used to swear he would make us (… before dissolving into laughter).
These are the sort of products that reduce hard manne to tears, as important in their lives as a well-braaied steak or the exploits of the hard man of SA rugby, Bakkies Botha. These vehicles speak of a time when men were men, when the world was simpler and muscle and fortitude won the day. And that is reflected in a lot of the marketing in the segment which is the most competitive – not to mention the biggest – in the automotive sector in South Africa.
So, Toyota’s Hilux proclaims it is “tougher-er” than its competitiors, Ford’s Ranger is seen transporting impossible loads on impossible terrain and Isuzu’s KB (now known as the D-Max) batters its way through the wilderness on missions of mercy.
Where does that leave Mahindra, the Indian bakkie maker which, to be kind, falls on the utilitarian, rather than sexy, side of the scale? The vehicles have won a loyal following, particularly in farming areas where good looks finish a distant second to toughness. How do you compete, as a challenger brand, with the bigger players? Well, if the most recent ad is anything to go by, you get cheeky and you send up the whole world of macho-ness and bakkies.
So we see a rugged Camel Man type ploughing through the harsh country of the Eastern Cape, where farming is a hard-scrabble existence. He pulls to a sliding halt in a cloud of dust in his Mahindra double-cab and jumps out. He has seen something. Something that needs his help. Something which needs to be rescued. It’s a cute little lamb, about to be attacked by a snake. Without hesitation, Mahindra Man takes out his fence clippers, snips the strands and rescues the cute little bundle. As he strides off, the fence collapses.
We then see him with the lamb – sitting next to him as he drives, holding it next to the camp fire at night, leaning out of the window, dog-like, as the bakkie traverses the empty space. Finally, our hero reunites the lamb with its owner (also a Mahindra driver) and walks off, his work done. But he can’t stop a tear from falling. Real men do rescue lambs. Real men do cry. And, of course, real men do drive Mahindra bakkies.
It pricks the cliched pomposity of the macho culture and its attendant marketing noise, and it showcases the bakkie, too, in its no-frills unpretentious stance. It’s also uniquely, and old-school, South African, and not some recycled mid-Atlantic corporatised nonsense. So Orchids to Mahindra, Joe Public United and production company They Films.
In a week of marketing “dear oh dears” – with Pick n Pay topping the social media controversy meter with its quickly removed coffee mugs for “The Maid” and “The Gardener” – Mediclinic joined the ranks of companies which make me wonder whether they have no commonsense filters in their marketing programmes. It breathlessly announced a photographic competition for images related to its Mediclinic operation in Stellenbosch.
A “curated panel” (I give up: what the hell does that mean?) would select the best photos, which would be framed and displayed in the new Stellenbosch Mediclinic. It continued: “Photographers will be credited for their images, but not remunerated.” As if Mediclinic hands out operations for free. As one person said on Twitter, if one of the photographers ended up at Stellenbosch Mediclinic, and was dying, they wouldn’t get free treatment.
Someone with a commonsense gene realised the reputation damage this was doing and the “competition” was pulled. Marketing expert Gillian Rightford was spot on when she observed: “Glad they’ve done this. The massive irony of the whole thing being their payoff line‚ ‘expertise you can trust’.”
Was there no one to say “hey, you can’t do this”? It wouldn’t surprise me if this was a public relations firm’s idea – the sort that keeps writers waiting for their money or suggests they should work for “exposure”. So, Mediclinic, you will be credited for this Onion. Unfortunately, we can’t afford to remunerate you …