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, 15:23 pm
#398 Ig:
Still have your login rights?
23 Mar 2009, 15:23 pm
#398 Ig:
Me! Me!
I’ve been reading about troepies over the weekend and I know about rondvok en opvok!
23 Mar 2009, 15:24 pm
#402 Dawn:
23 Mar 2009, 15:24 pm
as ek so ja keo se pic bo op my skerm kyk, lyk hy maar baie soos ou Jan …. ek dink as keo so paar kg’s optel, kan hy pass as die genuine oke
23 Mar 2009, 15:24 pm
#371 Vinnie: How is that? Keo is a moaner. He should come up with something better then if Jan is so despicable to him.
23 Mar 2009, 15:24 pm
#402 Dawn:
How about “jy na*i jou maatjie”?
23 Mar 2009, 15:25 pm
#398 Ig:
The furthest I can get Roy to go is moderating me.
Bless him.
23 Mar 2009, 15:26 pm
#386 robdylan: very long time indeed…i’m good thanks. not in London anymore…living it large in the Cotswolds! You?
23 Mar 2009, 15:26 pm
#406 WP Till I Die Thinks For Himself:
No, that comes from Bonteheuwel (via Jakkalsvleilaan).
23 Mar 2009, 15:27 pm
#395 cab: password is too short? Doesn’t sound right… want me to investigate and mail you a new one?
I wouldn’t say it’s too civilised. We do have Vinnie, after all
23 Mar 2009, 15:27 pm
401 – Not that i aware of it. But unless password secuirty has improved i am sure i could find one that works.
402 – RondVok and Opvok – busy weekend?
23 Mar 2009, 15:27 pm
#404 quota_conrad_jantjies_is_jorrie_muller:
think your name should read
….
“even a quota is better than first choice jorrie muller”
23 Mar 2009, 15:28 pm
#408 Veltie:
Do you know Carol?
Do you also talk “cracking”?
23 Mar 2009, 15:30 pm
#411 Ig:
Extremely!
Actually, there is a difference between rondvok en opvok.
One day I will tell you what it is!
23 Mar 2009, 15:31 pm
#410 robdylan:
haha, tell you what get Vinnie, Duiwel, Skopskiet, TheTackler and StM on at the same time and there could be heartattacks reported all over the country.
23 Mar 2009, 15:31 pm
#406 WP Till I Die Thinks For Himself:
Sies!
Liewe donner!
Mens sal nie se jy het in Namakwaland grootgeword nie, jou klein vuilbek!
#409 Dawn:
Comments on my list still pending, can’t wait for ever, I am a busy man…..
You agree or not, that YOU people are from down there….
‘Seuna’ is big on stats, ask him to show you where the racist/foul mouths here on keo reside, he will have it out in a jiffy, i am sure…
23 Mar 2009, 15:31 pm
#413 Dawn: I ahve spoken to Carol on here before, but she is quite a bit away from me. I’m closer to Bath. En nee, my inglish is still talked very deliciously…since i was twice!
…it is much better than it used to was, though…
23 Mar 2009, 15:31 pm
#414 Dawn:
Sies!
23 Mar 2009, 15:32 pm
#406 WP Till I Die Thinks For Himself:
23 Mar 2009, 15:33 pm
#406 WP Till I Die Thinks For Himself:
Jy gesuip?
Hoekom praat jy so lelik?
23 Mar 2009, 15:33 pm
#395 cab: not sure…Ig would never spill the beans…
23 Mar 2009, 15:33 pm
#410 robdylan:
will have to re-register, but cant remember too many, i like my old 4-letter one, but think its too short with your system. will get around to it, good site, cant be many better sharks sites.
23 Mar 2009, 15:35 pm
414 – i am only good at the ondervok
23 Mar 2009, 15:36 pm
ha ha ha ha, this article is funny! whoa.
23 Mar 2009, 15:36 pm
#408 Veltie: I’m down in Kent… Sevenoaks, to be exact
23 Mar 2009, 15:38 pm
#423 Ig: hello iG,
23 Mar 2009, 15:38 pm
421 – He probably made the bench for the Falcons Development side.
23 Mar 2009, 15:38 pm
#416 Pietman:
I have responded.
I said … so what.
23 Mar 2009, 15:38 pm
Howzit MABU….
23 Mar 2009, 15:39 pm
#415 cab: well, three of the five are registered…
23 Mar 2009, 15:39 pm
#425 robdylan: Good to be out of London…lekker for a bit, but then too much of a concrete jungle for my liking.
23 Mar 2009, 15:40 pm
#422 cab: no – I’m not being arrogant when I say there aren’t any better Sharks sites… Not interactive ones, anyway
23 Mar 2009, 15:40 pm
Holy ****. Has the become a gathering place for the village id10ts.
23 Mar 2009, 15:40 pm
#423 Ig:
Ek sal maar jou woord moet vat, ****.
23 Mar 2009, 15:40 pm
#425 robdylan:
Funnily enough Mr. Dylan – my train route (FCC) got re-routed today and there’s a train going from my place directly to Sevenoaks. It’s about 2 hours or soemthing and 527 stops but it’s there!
23 Mar 2009, 15:40 pm
#428 Dawn:
Said what?
23 Mar 2009, 15:41 pm
#433 Ed_the_PROUDLions:
Your village is missing yours.
Go back there.
23 Mar 2009, 15:41 pm
#433 Ed_the_PROUDLions:
Who are these people, i ask you?
23 Mar 2009, 15:41 pm
#431 Veltie: I only lived there for a month and it was more than enough for me.
23 Mar 2009, 15:41 pm
433 – Just like a Lions rugby practice – eh?
23 Mar 2009, 15:41 pm
#416 Pietman: #420 Pietman:
Hehehe.
Rapporteer my dan sommer dat ek geban word?
23 Mar 2009, 15:42 pm
anyway, i think keo should be banned for hatespeech!!
23 Mar 2009, 15:42 pm
#435 Vinnie: from St Albans direct to Sevenoaks? You sure?
23 Mar 2009, 15:43 pm
Jis maar dis ‘n klomp k@k wat darem maar hier aangaan.
23 Mar 2009, 15:43 pm
#433 Ed_the_PROUDLions:
You might want to actually string together a sentence that’s gramatically correct before referring to the mental capabilities of others.
23 Mar 2009, 15:43 pm
#438 Pietman: Hey Pietman, I would love to know.
23 Mar 2009, 15:44 pm
you know guys, the quality of the banter in this place really used to be a lot higher back in the old days
23 Mar 2009, 15:44 pm
#443 robdylan:
Yip, started today.
23 Mar 2009, 15:44 pm
#445 Vinnie: bla bla bla, is that good enough for you winnie?
23 Mar 2009, 15:44 pm
#436 Pietman:
Are you dom?
So what?
(Rpt) … So what?
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