Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • In the words of Nelson Mandela, “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity”
  • Flooding at the James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works
  • Avbob 2023 Poetry Competition Second Place: Jeannie Wallace McKeown
  • Avbob 2023 Poetry Competition Winner: Sithembele Isaac Xhegwana
  • Residents of Extensions Nine, 10, Transit Camp, Phumlani and Enkanini voice discontent!
  • Makhanda Creatives Speak Out
  • Running towards a drug and alcohol-free Makhanda
  • What’s On 23 – 30 March
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»Uncategorized»Lacking foresight costs FNB big
Uncategorized

Lacking foresight costs FNB big

Grocott's MailBy Grocott's MailJanuary 28, 2013No Comments2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

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.

Previous ArticleOfficials choose Fish River Sun again
Next Article Fine win for St Andrew’s eight
Grocott's Mail

Comments are closed.

Tweets by Grocotts
Newsletter



Listen

The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

Humans of Makhanda

Humans of Makhanda

Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

© 2023 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.