Regular readers of this blog will recall the legal dispute between Santam and Dial Direct, two South African insurance companies. Santam objected to a parody of one of series of advertisements featuring Ben Kingsley on the grounds of alleged copyright infringement and ‘disparagement’. Although rife with copyright issues that require judicial clarification the dispute sputtered out and was finally settled.
Another advert in the ‘Real McCoy’ series has been spoofed by Nando’s a South African restaurant chain known for cheeky ads poking fun at politicians and the publicly unpopular World Cup advertising monopoly.
Commenting on the Santam/Dial Direct dispute Jeremy Speres suggested “Perhaps, with all the creative talent we have in this country, all those billable hours could have been spent on devising a tasteful retort?”
Whether or not they were aware of Spere’s suggestion it seems that Santam has taken that approach in its new ad responding to Nando’s.
Of course there are differences, Dial Direct and Santam are direct competitors whereas Nando’s and Santam are not.
