Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Remember Peter Ndlovu ads? Happy days are coming again

I think I will try and get one commercial video here and hope that Pepsi will pay me good money for it. I bet a few saw what I'm talking about. Briefly, an adolescent boy approaches a vending machine, slotting coins for the last can. A beautiful lady charms the young boy, takes away the Pepsi can, gives a free kiss on the lips and walks away. The boy, short of fainting by being love/lust-stoned froze and probably stalked the lady, because, some time later, the boy knew where to find the irresistible lady, this time with a HUGE bottle of Pepsi. It would have been nice if it was a Coke. Anyway, it does not show what he got for that one.

Pepsi have since made bad adverts in my view, like the one with Lionel Messi, Didier Drogba and the like. One gets the idea but I am not sure about the impact. I am not expect in that but I would not be compelled to the product based on the idea. Maybe in a mob, as the setting is concert/live event like.

Messi has his participation on yet another bad one; the Lays commercial. It seems a little lame but I guess I am not sure what a commercial looks like and how people react to them. In more ways than one, the need for interaction with the music, action and involvement makes me appreciate the products, much more like the Sumsang ad.

On that one, you will agree that the first football player looks like a football player, but not good. s the whole thing unfolds, the Sumsang products in Drogba, John Mikel Obi and Michael Essien look the real deal, the ultimate pros. I own nothing Sumsang but it would be good to have one, just because I am chuffed by the ad.

Peter Ndlovu had just blossomed at the English Premier League side, Coventry, when he sponsored a youth football tournament, which he ran alongside manufacturers of bath soap brand, Lifebuoy. He appears half-naked in a shower telling his story, bathing with Lifebuoy soap and actual says 'Lifebouy is my soap'.

During my playing days, Mandla Balanda and Benjamin Nkonjera were the choir masters during training warm-ups with the popular commercial song, from the ad depicting a boarding school dining room. The boys were fed up by the porridge and went on a 'strike' tapping the tables with spoons, forks and knife singing, ' We want Butter-Cup in our porridge, we want Butter Cup bread spread to, we want Butter Cup in our sandwiches, we want Butter Cup as a rule'. Now you should remember the end, 'When it really matters, Butter Cuuuuuup, margariiiiiiine!'.

It was in the days of that Bruce Grobelaar appearing over a cliff with some fish on one hand and a fishing line on the other, saying something that was inaudible. To make it worthwhile, as boys, and I think you did too, we put words into his mouth and it was in vernacular and translated it was; 'Hi, I am Bruce Grobelaar, I am selling fresh fish. Peter Ndlovu is coming with dry ones.' I cannot even remember what the ad was all about or for who it was. You see how things relate and stick.

One coming as an 'aside' on note, was the milling company ad for mealie-meal brand. My children like to say after it on every appearance, especially the part that said, 'e-bone roller mealie, umabambi thumbu'. Blue Ribbon could have done better but anyway.

With that in mind, it was an era representing some of the best footballing days of our generation, probably our time. Many will associate them with the beginning of the Dream Team. While it is still early days to say, those days could be coming again. I am not sure what memories you hold and it could be soon that  you relive the days.





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