Thursday, October 20, 2016

This is way too Western for an African environment


This advertisement for Armstrong beer was made by an agency in Cape Town, South Africa, so I presume the beer is also South African.  The agency has tried to put a men-scared-of-women-but-outsmarting-them twist on the consumption of beer, but it falls flat for anyone who knows Africa.  If African women in typical African society tried to stop their men consuming beer, they might just get beaten flatter than a pancake!  Patriarchy is alive and well there.

Still, it's an amusing advertisement - to me, all the more so because of its inherent contradictions.





I've never tasted the stuff myself - it wasn't on the market when I left South Africa two decades ago.  I drank Windhoek, Amstel or Castle Lager, or Hansa Pilsener.  Old hands from that part of the world will doubtless join me in salivating at the memory of a long, cold one (or two, or three) after a hot day in the African sun.

Peter

EDITED TO ADD:  Thanks to a reader's comment, you'll find more details of the advertisement here.

3 comments:

TatendaZim said...

Ah yes, a cold Castle enjoyed around a roaring ironwood fire after a long day in the bush.

selsey.steve said...

Mapuleni Mukwai,
Bemba for Howzit! An ice-cold Winhoek or Castle after a long morning's tiger fishing on the Zambezi (around 1030hrs) when the sun is hot, your fish are in the boat and your thirst is mighty!
Memories.

kamas716 said...

In one of Jay Johnstone's books, I think it's the first one Temporary Insanity, he talks about when Gene Autry owned the Los Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels. Gene's wife didn't like him drinking, and would occasionally come over to where he was playing cards and take a sip from his glass to make sure he wasn't drinking. Thing was, the glass of ice water sitting in front of him wasn't what he was drinking out of. He had a glass of vodka with ice sitting in front of each of the guys on either side of him that he'd drink out of.