[imagesource: YouTube / Carte Blanche]

Say the words “yebo gogo” and most South Africans will give you a knowing nod.

Yes, of course, those Vodacom commercials from days of old featuring leopard print speedos and a wise man with an instantly recognisable laugh.

From the mid-1990s onwards, they graced our screens in a time when you actually had to watch commercials and couldn’t pay for Netflix to roll from one episode to the next mid-binge.

Exhibit A:

It’s just a pity that even in this day and age, most of our cellphone networks still manage to plunge into 3G at a moment’s notice.

We digress, though, because today’s Throwback Thursday features a hunt for the brains behind Vodacom’s campaign of yesteryear.

Last month, Derek Watts and Carte Blanche took on the task:

The dawn of democracy saw a broadening of our creative horizons, especially in the world of advertising.  By 1995, big brands and advertising’s brain power were combining in ways unseen in the restrictive apartheid years, defining new ways of reflecting on a changing society.

The results were some of the most memorable commercials seen on TV, ones that remain etched in the minds of those old enough to remember them. So, where are those creatives now?

Off we go down memory lane:

[source:carteblanche]