Pineapple Insurance has been ordered to immediately withdraw its advertising billboards declaring: “Ukushayela ungenawo umshwalense kufana nokuthi dumelang kumshayeli we tekisi,” which translates to: “Driving without car insurance is like saying dumelang to a taxi driver.”
This attempt at humour has, in the wake of a formal complaint to the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB), been found to be more negative and offensive than funny and to be discriminatory.
The ARB issued the sanction after a complainant submitted: the advert is full of tribalistic stereotypes, undertones like the one that assumes that all taxi drivers are Zulus and they hate Sotho-Tswana people.
In their decision, the ARB directorate found that the advert highlighted the stereotypical assumption that taxi drivers are generally angry Zulus who will make you feel awkward and uncomfortable if you greet them in the wrong language.
The line between a lighthearted joke about South African stereotypes and discrimination is a challenging one to draw. The question is whether the advertiser has done so successfully.
— ARB directorate
In their response to the complaint, Pineapple said “the advertisement highlights the importance of having car insurance by drawing a relatable, lighthearted analogy from everyday South African life.”
It said the Zulu phrase used translates to “driving without insurance is like sayingˎ dumelang [a Sotho-Tswana greeting], to a taxi driver” and was intended to illustrate “a situation that is incongruous, awkward, or simply out of the norm, much like using a Sotho greeting when the standard expectation or cultural norm with a Zulu-speaking taxi driver is a Zulu greeting”.
Pineapple noted that Zulu is the widest-used language in South Africa, and that it stood to reason that most South African taxi drivers speak Zulu, and to greet them in another language is likely to cause an awkward interaction.
The advertiser also noted that Zulu people are not a minority that was previously disadvantaged, and that taxi drivers in Gauteng are more likely to be Zulu-speaking statistically, and as such the advertisement makes no assertions or generalisations of cultural groups.
Finally, Pineapple argued, the general goal of the campaign was to be more inclusive of all South African groups by including references to everyone’s culture in everyone’s languages in a manner that is relatable.
The ARB therefore considered the copy in the context of offensive, unacceptable and discriminatory advertising. According to the industry code on discrimination, no advertisements may contain content of any description that is discriminatory, unless, in the opinion of the ARB, such discrimination is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom.
Pineapple argued that the advert was part of a series that was inclusive of South Africans, rather than discriminatory, and that it did not generalise, offend or discriminate.
The complainant set forth the nature of the offence, stating the advertising suggests all taxi drivers are Zulu and they hate Sotho-Tswana-speaking people.
The directorate noted that humour often relies on stereotypical characters behaving either in ways that everyone recognises, or in unexpected ways that go against the stereotype. It also agreed that South Africans often deal with their differences with humour, which, when it works, can become a positive cultural phenomenon.
“The line between a lighthearted joke about South African stereotypes and discrimination is a challenging one to draw. The question is whether the advertiser has done so successfully. One basis on which this evaluation must rely is whether the stereotype used is a negative or harmful stereotype as they are a form of discrimination.”
It found that in this instance the advertisement relies on a negative stereotype to make its point with the blatant claim that driving without insurance is like greeting a taxi driver in a Sotho-Tswana language.
“The advertiser has argued that greeting a taxi driver [who, it argues, is likely to be a Zulu person merely through proportional representation in the South African context], by speaking Sotho would be awkward. This is the analogy that it seeks to make. [We] don’t agree that this is how the hypothetical reasonable consumer would view this advertisement. Driving without insurance is not awkward. It is risky and comes with a great deal of financial and personal risk. The communication of the advertisement is that speaking Sotho to a taxi driver is risky, rather than awkward,” the directorate said.
The advertisement was found to imply that Zulu taxi drivers are angry and dangerous, and are going to respond negatively.
“Indeed, it is only this interpretation that makes the comparison to driving without insurance makes sense. It is an unfortunate reality that many South Africans do have negative stereotypes about taxi drivers, and that some of those stereotypes are tribalistic in nature. While for some people, this advertisement may seem amusing in that it touches on a truth about language choices in taxis, the ultimate reality is that negative stereotypes about Zulu taxi drivers are unintentionally entrenched by advertising like this.”
Pineapple was instructed to remove the adverts as soon as possible.
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