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The ad started off funnily enough with some dudes talking about the type of person they want to meet. But then it got scary — the ouens looked too much like 28s.

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A couple of thoughts: the white guys look like nice, decent and thoughtful potential partners. They look like someone I can meet on Dating SA. The black guys, however, are your stereotypical gangsters and thugs.

But that’s not my biggest problem with this Brandhouse ad; my biggest problem is that it seems to be condoning jail rape, which we all know is a big problem in South African prisons.

Here’s what Chris Roper says about the ad. And yes, I absolutely agree with him:

There’s no appeal to our civic sense, to our desire to do the right thing, to our awareness of how driving drunk can hurt others. No, what we’re selling is how driving drunk can hurt YOU.

The other thing that is problematic is that prison is already a punishment. Do we really want people to be afraid of being raped inside the place that is supposed to punish them for their behaviour? I realise that it is a reality; I realise that rape inside prisons happen. But what I do not condone is the attempt by Brandhouse to make light of it. “It’s ridiculous and reinforces the stereotypical image that people in prison are inherently bad and can’t be rehabilitated. That is deeply concerning,” – Lorenzo Wakefield at the Community Law Centre.

The one good thing about this campaign is the breathalyser machines inside drinking holes such as Mr Pickwicks in Long Street. I actually saw one there recently. Pop in a R5 coin and you can analyse your breath to find out whether you’re still within your  0,05 g per 100ml of blood.

The only thing that’s going to stop drunken driving is by making it socially unacceptable. Similar to how we’ve made it socially unacceptable to go without applying deodorant or how we’ve made women feel uncomfortable about their armpit hair. But the big difference is that this will actually save lives.

Question: Would we condone this ad if they used the threat of rape against women? If not, why is it OK to use it against men?

Ah, this brings back the fondest memories of Christmas mornings with the parentals, grandparents, and cousins. Gelukkige Kersfees, Feliz Natal, Merry Christmas, Frohe Weihnacht, Feliz Navidad, Hyvää joulua, Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale, God Jul, Merii Kurisumasu!

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