The controversial FNB television advertising campaign was poorly thought-out, exploited children and lacked focus. What were they thinking?
The controversial FNB television advertising campaign was poorly thought-out, exploited children and lacked focus. What were they thinking?
Did they for one moment believe that people were going to rush out and deposit their hard-earned cash with the bank because they used children to obliquely criticise government?
In a video posted online, one of the producers revealed a key part of their strategy by smugly informing viewers that “children don’t lie”.
Firstly, this pronouncement shows that the production team knows nothing about children and secondly it shows that it was resorting to child exploitation in a misdirected attempt to add credibility to its publicity stunts.
The producers were attempting to invoke the innocence of “Out of the mouths of babes!” from Matthew 21:14-17 to impute an honesty and sincerity to the bank’s commercialism.
It did not wash, and it would never have washed even if the ANC spin doctors had had enough common sense to shut up while the bank was shooting itself in the foot.
The ANC reacted poorly to the FNB campaign, emphasising the ruling party’s inability to brook any kind of criticism.
The comments made in the FNB advert by Kelly Baloyi, a Soweto high school pupil, were nothing more than mild statements about everyday life in South Africa where mismanagement and greed are the rule rather than the exception.
The children in the FNB adverts did not say anything that is not already common knowledge.
The ANC’s orchestrated attacks on the bank are quite terrifying because they left no doubt that in future a company daring to question the integrity or ability of government could rapidly find itself excluded from any kind of business with government and as the ANC has shown in the past, it is willing to use its position in government for its own narrow sectarian interests.
The ANC has also made it clear that commercial enterprises should not hold political opinions – unless of course they favour the ruling party.
This weekend, FNB ran snivelling back to the ANC to beg forgiveness for its pathetic adverts, but it might have underestimated the popular reaction to its apparent absence of a backbone.
Many clients, including residents in our area, have already indicated their intentions to close their accounts at FNB.
