Mini ad causes major ruckus

BMW has come under fire for placing a controversial Mini Cooper billboard near Soweto.

This comes as the incident in which jailed hip-hop star Molemo "Jub Jub" Maarohanye and a friend ploughed into a group of Soweto pupils in Protea North while drag racing in Mini Coopers is still fresh in many people's minds.

The billboard, near FNB Stadium, featured the outline of a Mini Cooper with a large hole where the car should be, and a banner across it reading: "Drive it like it's stolen!"

Two Johannesburg residents, Macbeth Ngema and Candice Nene, took umbrage with the "insensitive" advert, saying it "promotes and glorifies the stealing of cars, speeding and reckless driving".

The billboard was distasteful, said Nene.

Maarohanye and Themba Tshabalala killed four schoolchildren and seriously injured two others in 2010. They are each serving 25-year prison terms.

Ngema and Nene complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about the "irresponsible and offensive" advert, but the authority decided not to rule on the matter after BMW promised not to use the offending phrase again. The authority also noted the billboard had - subsequent to the complaints - been stolen.

BMW said the wording was chosen after the original billboard, which contained an image of a Mini Cooper, had also been stolen. The phrase was thus a "tongue-in-cheek reference" to that theft.

Ngema, 41, was not amused.

He said: "That phrase is pushing people to do wrong in townships."

Nene, 36, of Naturena, said: "It was as if the billboard encouraged people to steal cars. Mini Coopers get a [reputation] as easy targets because they are fast."

Yesterday, BMW Group spokesman Edward Makwana said: "The intention was in no way aimed at unravelling the sensitive issue associated with the incident that occurred on that road in the past."