Vodacom has again taken exception to Cell C’s television advertising campaign, flighted in early April, in which it took the mickey out of its bigger rival’s decision to rebrand to the red corporate colours of its UK parent, Vodafone.
At a hearing on Wednesday of the Advertising Industry Tribunal, part of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) — the body that regulates the advertising industry — Vodacom said it opposed Cell C’s decision to appeal against a decision by the authority that found largely in favour of Vodacom.
Cell C’s legal counsel argued that the campaign, which featured comedian Trevor Noah walking around an old sports car, half spray-painted in red, was not disparaging of Vodacom’s brand. “Recently, a 17-year-old cell network changed their colours. Nice, but what’s actually under the hood?” Noah asks in the ad. Noah is seen walking up to a new, black Ferrari, representing Cell C. “It takes more than a lick of paint to be SA’s number one network, don’t you think?”
At Wednesday’s tribunal hearing, Cell C argued the ad did not convey “anything negative” about Vodacom’s new brand or colour. “A certain degree of teasing is acceptable,” the company’s legal counsel argued.
“The primary purpose of the advertisement was to highlight the merits of Cell C’s new network,” it said. Cell C said the car used in the campaign to represent Vodacom recognised the “excellent brand that Vodacom launched in 1994”.
But Jerry Mpufane, MD of Vodacom’s ad agency, Draftfcb, argued that the ad did “disparage and discredit” the operator’s brand. It also argued that the car used in the ad was not available in SA in 1994 — the first Nissan Skyline GTR only went on sale in 2008, and it was also not a GTR as claimed by Cell C, but rather a heavily modified GTX.
“It is a GTX with home-made body parts,” Mpufane said. “The GTR was not available in SA and the average consumer would not have recognised that particular vehicle.” He said the car was chosen to be “as disparaging to Vodacom as possible”.
“Based on the language in the television commercial, ordinary consumers would be led to understand that Cell C’s network was superior and that Vodacom had just chosen to give its network a ‘lick of paint’. This is disparaging.”
The tribunal is expected to make a decision about Cell C’s appeal soon. — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral
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