Let’s face it, there’s no such thing as a political election without a little
controversy, but with South Africa’s national elections being somewhat of a
game-changer, campaign competition reached an all new high in 2014.
A media firestorm
In the build up to 7 May, when the public voted in the national elections, The
African National Congress (ANC) and opposition party, the Democratic Alliance
(DA) decorated newspapers with some explosive headlines surrounding the
Nkandla saga, South Africa’s climbing unemployment statistics and frustrations
over poor service delivery. However, another media war was waged between
the two parties over the approach to advertising their election campaigns.
An SMS saying Zuma had stolen the public’s money to build his R246m home
was sent to potential voters by the DA, which resulted in a court battle between
the two parties, with the ANC claiming the campaign was an infringement of the
electoral act. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) had refused to
flight a DA television advert and subsequently blocked all of the party’s radio
and television commercials. Though the SABC eventually broadcast the ads, it
begs the question as to whether the phrase “free and fair’ is as applicable to
pre-electoral advertising campaigns as it is to the elections themselves.
Subjective spin
Conceptualised by M&C Saatchi Abel, the creative agency appointed by the DA
as its communication partner for the 2014 elections, and produced by Frieze
Films, the DA commercials told the personal stories of ordinary South Africans
and party leaders seeking change. Faheem Chaudhry, Account Director at M&C
Saatchi Abel, says: “The adverts step away from the political rhetoric we are so
used to now as a people. It allows the voice of the DA supporter to guide the
campaign and the narrative. This was delivered in the most authentic and real
way – by letting people tell their unscripted stories.’
Shooting over seven days in February and March at a number of locations in
Gauteng and the Western Cape, Frieze Films captured footage for the adverts in
a documentary style using two camera units, each armed with an Arri Alexa, in
order to convey both the politicians’ and voters’ testimonials.
The ANC’s approach was themed around 2014 being the 20th anniversary of
democracy in South Africa, and their advert tells the story of the country’s
advances and improvements since coming into power in 1994.
Star Productions produced the ANC advert, which was developed by advertising
agency, Ogilvy & Mather, and due to the nature of it being a vignette montage,
six shoot days were broken up according to when the crew had access to
specific locations within Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal. The advert
was shot in February using the Arri Alexa High Speed Camera and Cooke S4
Lenses and was produced by Adam Thal.
Taking the moral high ground
Aside from the political battle which has played out in the public domain, South
African citizens using social media find it hard to spend five minutes on any
online platform without being exposed to a string of conflicting opinions related
to the opposing parties in this year’s elections. It seems that everyone had a
strong view, which more often than not was presented in a very emotional way.
Taking this into consideration, some might have thought that participating in the
promotion of either political party campaign might have stirred angst or caused
conflict between those taking part in their creation.
However, the respective participating agencies and production companies
maintained that their focus was directed towards delivering a high quality
product, which they could be proud to put their name on.
“At our core we are focused on our craft. Regardless of whether a client is
popular or not, our passion is to find the core message, the part of the product
we really identify with, and tell that story. Of course politics brings a certain
emotionality to the way people might perceive the commercial, but what makes
us proud is that we were able to utilise our skills and respective passions to tell
a story that it is close to our hearts,’ remarks Thal.
Chaudhry echoes this notion and says, “We saw this as a communication job,
just like many other campaigns we work on. As with our other clients, we are
used to working on brands that operate in highly competitive
environments.’
Thal concludes, “In advertising there are morality plays across the board. From
burger ads to denims, from cleaning products to alcohol, intersecting moralities
will always have an influence in the way the brand is perceived. Making peace
with that is an important step towards embracing the passion, intensity and
craft required to make a successful and fulfilling career in this industry.’
