Give Jan the red card
23 Mar 2009
Keo, in his weekly Business Day newspaper column, writes Vodacom’s Player 23 campaign is an insult to the cosmopolitan South African rugby supporter.
For 10 years South African rugby’s marketing team did everything to reflect that in a new South Africa there was a new South African rugby culture far removed from the brandy and coke potbellied types that stereotype the traditional white Afrikaans male’s bond with the game.
Zulu dancers were introduced as part of pre-match entertainment at Tests, playing quotas ensured black representation on the field and slowly blacks were enticed to experience an afternoon at the palace of what was once a white’s only affair.
There was an effort being made to change perception and to kill off stereotyping, but South African rugby could guarantee nothing outside of their control – and they don’t control who pays to go to a ground. They could not foresee Piet van Zyl, dressed in jeans and a Springbok jersey that couldn’t accommodate his barrel gut, casually wondering onto the field and assaulting Irish referee Dave McHugh when the Springboks played the All Blacks in Durban in 2002, and they could not be accountable for the actions of an unidentified individual who racially abuses another at a game.
All that South African rugby can control is that over which it has influence, and that is why the endorsement of Vodacom’s 2009 rugby campaign is baffling because all it has done is reinforce that the South African rugby fan is everything the organization has tried to convince us is no longer the case.
Vodacom, as the primary sponsor of rugby in South Africa, is celebrating the year of the fan. His name is Jan, he is player 23 in the team and he is a clone of the 1970s white Springbok rugby supporter – a walking caricature of what has always repulsed. Only they’ve given Jan a personality of being a jovial and hugely popular bloke, but perception is stronger than fact and the physical appearance of Jan and what he represents in the stands adds to the perception that rugby in South Africa is still a game supported only by grossly overweight brandy and coke potbellied types.
I have sympathy for the well-traveled and likeable modern Afrikaans-speaking South African who loves his language, loves his rugby and loves living in South Africa. This modern Afrikaner certainly doesn’t look or act like Jan and he must cringe every time he sees the advertisement.
In an evolving South African rugby audience market, Jan is in the minority at Stormers and Sharks matches, which says player 23 should be a celebration of something more than a pot-bellied Afrikaans speaking supporter. What of Gert, who is sophisticated, lean and intelligent? What of Sipho, who digs his rugby almost as much as he does soccer? What of Alice who never misses a game? What of Peter, who has always put the Springboks first on a Saturday afternoon?
Vodacom will defend their choice of Jan as good natured fun and SA Rugby will see nothing offensive in it, yet continue to wonder why the perception that their game caters only for conservative and racist whites.
The game in this country is more cosmopolitan in support than it has ever been and that is the pity of the advertisement because it reflects the past when there is so much of the current to be showcased when the British & Irish Lions visit in June.
This is not about being politically correct, but about accuracy in who supports the Springboks. There is more to South African rugby than Jan, but thanks to Jan it will take another 10 years to convince critics of South African rugby that there is life beyond the 23rd member of the team.
Things off the field have changed in our rugby and innovation would be celebrating this in the same way the Bulls and Sharks celebrated what hasn’t changed on the field, which is the ability of a good South African team to turn defence into the most lethal form of attack.
The Bulls and Sharks were brutal in defending their line against the Hurricanes and Force respectively, and the skill in maintaining defensive composure is equal to anything a team does when given the ball.
Rugby is a game played as much without the ball as with it, and at the weekend we saw two very good South African sides reinforce the stereotype that South African teams are more dangerous without the ball.
And, unlike Jan, that is a stereotype the cosmopolitan South African rugby fan should never find offensive.
1,374 Comments
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23 Mar 2009, 12:45 pm
#41 Tacitus:
No, just look in the Highbury Savuka Media box when there’s a match at Newlands…
23 Mar 2009, 12:47 pm
#36 Charlie: Mooi so Charlie
23 Mar 2009, 12:48 pm
The only thing I find offensive about the “Jan” ad, are the orange Crocs…hideous!
23 Mar 2009, 12:48 pm
LOL, wish i had some sound, looks pretty good.
23 Mar 2009, 12:50 pm
everyone … Tacitus has got a master’s degree. How do we know because he tells us … if ever there was a pathetic line bud then that was it. What has a degree got to do with it? And well travelled isn’t from the north stand of Loftus to the east stand or from the bar to the boerie roll stand. Come now you can do better than that
23 Mar 2009, 12:50 pm
Wat worry keo hom nou al weer oor Jan?
Wat wil hy sien: ‘n engelse ou van die kaapse southern suburbs?
Hel, die ou het darem weird hangups?
Mens sal sweer hyt gesuffer onder a____-heid.
Ek gee nie ‘n moer om hoe iemand lyk nie, solank hy/sy ‘n passie vir rugby het is ek ok met hom/haar.
23 Mar 2009, 12:50 pm
#53 WP Till I Die Is ‘n Slaafse Seun:
Ha Ha Ha…………LMFAO!!!!!!!
23 Mar 2009, 12:51 pm
robbie wessels is as ham as anything, but also a funny bugger.
23 Mar 2009, 12:52 pm
#55 keo:
Somebody’s going to get banned
23 Mar 2009, 12:52 pm
#55 keo:
Miskien verwys hy na sy profiel.
Ons almal weet dat hy ‘n Masters degree het van UWK.
23 Mar 2009, 12:53 pm
#55 keo:
What happened to your golden border, by the way?
23 Mar 2009, 12:53 pm
#45 King Shark: Next year we’ll ask Vodacom to do the Player 24 ad. It’s just not gonna be as much fun as Jan
23 Mar 2009, 12:54 pm
Keo… Seriously… Was there any good reason for writing this ****… The AD is about the Supporter… Jan is a common SA name… Thats all… Trying to score some Brownie points here???? Hater will have a field day with this….
23 Mar 2009, 12:55 pm
Good point Keo
23 Mar 2009, 12:56 pm
Fark, is an advertising campaign news on a Monday after 3 SA Super 14 sides won over the weekend against the grain ??
What about intelligent articles dicecting the reasons why NZ Teams are vulnerable this season…
…. or an aticle showing that Ozzie teams might be imploding (not a single Ozzie Super 14 Team won on the weekend)!
… or heaven forbid, an article on how the Bulls have improved…
Let Vodacom worry about their “player 23″ campaign….
23 Mar 2009, 12:56 pm
#55 keo:
You holborsels.
You dare make HM Keo kwaad.
23 Mar 2009, 12:56 pm
actually it looks like that advert is done pretty well.
his black rugby socks at the bowling alley, superb.
23 Mar 2009, 12:57 pm
Een dag op ‘n reëndag gaan ek daai colonials uit die saal uit lig daar by Nuweland
Sal vir Ready D installeer as DJ en reggae gaan die plek ruk
23 Mar 2009, 12:58 pm
Hilarious.
So there must be a shortage of Rugby news these days.
Poor old Jan….
23 Mar 2009, 12:59 pm
#66 Dawn:
Kruip jy al weer gat?
23 Mar 2009, 12:59 pm
#53 WP Till I Die Is ‘n Slaafse Seun: Cosign. I dont know why people even wear those things.
As a black rugby supporter I dont give a f**k because as long as the Sharks keep winning I wont find anything to complain about so Vodacom better hope and pray that The Sharks win all their games from now on.
23 Mar 2009, 12:59 pm
Keo.. have you seen the Anti-Mark Keohane page on Facebook??
23 Mar 2009, 12:59 pm
#62 pokkel: True – like I said, I laugh at guys like Jan. But respect my own kind… LOL!
23 Mar 2009, 12:59 pm
And who the (&*$%(* is ALICE????????
23 Mar 2009, 13:00 pm
Expect Julius Malema to call Jan a “hideous force of apartheid, an imperialist, a colonialist, a Western puppet” soon…
23 Mar 2009, 13:00 pm
#18 Tacitus:
Goed gese!
Keo
If this add had a black, colored, Indian or whatever nationality in it with the same lyrics to the song, I would still have enjoyed it!
Cant believe you are trying to find races motives in it!
Vodacom came up with the add, they have a majority of BEE share holders!
Why dont you write them a letter, with your complaint rather.
You really are losing a lot of brownie points with this BS!
23 Mar 2009, 13:02 pm
keo
get a
grip
23 Mar 2009, 13:02 pm
What a K#K article. Trying to connect player 23 with a white afrikaans racist is what you would expect from the SA government.
Pisspoor article.
KEO, you should be ashamed of yourself.
23 Mar 2009, 13:02 pm
#55 keo:
So he deigns to respond. If you don’t understand the relevence of my comment in the context of your statement that Jan is suitable only for a target market of uneducated hillbillies, then maybe you’re the one who needs to study a bit further.
23 Mar 2009, 13:02 pm
#71 Ezee-23:
The saying is…”I dont care how comfortable they are… You look like a dumbass”!! He He..
23 Mar 2009, 13:02 pm
I know a Alice and she doesn’t give a toss about rugby.
23 Mar 2009, 13:03 pm
I like Jan … even though I prefer them a bit pared down.
Like Corne Uys.
Speaking of which … Saturday AM started off well with Corne scoring a try.
Sporting a cool beard. Then, Frans Steyn … also with a beard.
Mmmmmm. Corne or Frans …………….
No contest.
23 Mar 2009, 13:03 pm
Unfortunately, Alan Knott-Craig holds himself in such high regard as a marketing genius that you won’t get Vodacom to change anything.
I agree with Keo, the ad might be mildly entertaining but it just seems like a celebration of the repulsive South African when you look at it intellectually.
23 Mar 2009, 13:03 pm
Seriously dude.
One of the worst articles I’ve read in years. I’m sure if you sat for more that 5 minutes you could have come up with something better. You probably need more hits on the site so you draw the race card. If something this small offends you then YOU’ve got a bigger problem than you think. Stop writing about this k@k. We come to this website for rugby news so stick to that.
23 Mar 2009, 13:03 pm
Maybe Vodacom should have used a 5 foot midget with a unibrow in stead ??
23 Mar 2009, 13:04 pm
what analysis is necessary to know why New Zealand’s teams are struggling? Half their player force is in Europe or Japan and it coincides with the best generation of SA player since readmission. One plus one equals two.
Any other degrees we need to know about my big blue bulls man? … because you have shown me you have a degree of ignorance Tactitus in your failure to look beyond what Jan represents to you
23 Mar 2009, 13:04 pm
Keo is just trying his best to get a racist argument thread going again. These generaly manage to go on all day and generate the largest threads and so up the ‘audited’ hit rates. THis of course ups the advertising revenue.
Not stupid tactics, just a really stupid article.
23 Mar 2009, 13:05 pm
Truth be told, I had a good chuckle when I first saw the ad – and I still laugh every time I see it.
My English mates also enjoy the ad, my coloured and black mates too.
I think it takes a very hate-filled individual to watch the ad and, instead of just enjoying it, see it as threatening the cosmopolitan nature of rugby support in South Africa.
23 Mar 2009, 13:05 pm
Keo, this article shows just how prejudiced you are, I think it’s a hilarious ad campaign and for vodacom to have depicted the average SA rugby supporter as a chardonnay swilling yuppie would have been condescending and would have missed the point.
I must have missed the point where Jan was drinking brannewyn or making racist remarks in the advert, but to perpetuate the steroetype that the average white rugby supporter fits into your jaundiced perception is wrong, unfair and inflammatory.
Let’s rather celebrate and embrace our diversity as SA rugby supporters than to keep on harping on the bad elements and stereotypes that we know still exists out there.
To see you jumping on the Xabanisa bandwagon is also quite disappointing, seeing that he was harping on this over a week ago in the Sunday Times.
23 Mar 2009, 13:06 pm
#74 Dawn:
She was in a wonderland… thats why Vodacom couldnt find her…. So they settled for jan….
23 Mar 2009, 13:06 pm
#86 keo:
How would you have changed the ad?
23 Mar 2009, 13:07 pm
Sh@rkie dude … if it offends you then go elsewhere buddy. Can’t remember enforcing a law that forces you to this site. And please come up with something a bit more original than ‘He needs hits’ … if you know the industry you will realise it goes a bit beyond hits.
Nice to see there are so many Jammer Jannies out there
23 Mar 2009, 13:07 pm
Howzit Keo
Just saw the add on youtube now. Lekker kommin, maar dis ok. i think you are being overly sensitive on this one. Nothing wrong with the add.
23 Mar 2009, 13:08 pm
#90 THE MAULER:
All I see is that he invites ALICE to the Keo box for games and not me, the biggest Player 23 there is!!!!
Wag tot ek hom uitgooi daar een Saterdag.
23 Mar 2009, 13:08 pm
Daar is ‘n groep mense in SA wat altyd vir ons vir vertel wie die rassiste is.
Luister vir my: ‘n rassis het nie ‘n sekere “look” maar dit is sy private (sommige kies om dit publiek te maak) waardesisteem wat hom ‘n rassis maak.
So kan ‘n Afrikaner van Pietersburg bv nie ‘n rassis is terwyl SA Engelsman van CT bv wel ‘n rassis is.
Daai kaapse souties moet wys raak!
23 Mar 2009, 13:08 pm
#88 WP Till I Die Is ‘n Slaafse Seun:
That being said, I can appreciate and understand why the argument can be made that it reinforces a dangerous stereotype.
23 Mar 2009, 13:08 pm
keo
get a
grip
you are
losing it
you made an
*** of yourself
like
so many times
before
by now
you should be
able
to live
with it
23 Mar 2009, 13:09 pm
#86 keo: So write about the player drain in NZ….
Fark, that’ll be 100 times better than writing about an ad-campaign !!
Dof article, full stop !
23 Mar 2009, 13:09 pm
Keo you really are full of it these days!
Anyone who has a problem with that ad needs to get a life.
Pathetic Mark….
23 Mar 2009, 13:09 pm
Are the stands really filled with cosmopolitan South African rugby supporters?
What constitutes a cosmopolitan South African rugby supporter?
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