I know we currently live in a world where politicians tell us daily that up is down, wrong is right and the truth isn’t the truth, but that’s no excuse to start adopting that philosophy in our media.

Over the weekend, the Apartheid Museum won a gold Loerie award for a radio ad created by ad agency TBWA\Hunt Lascaris.

The ad places quotes from apartheid politician HF Verwoerd alongside those of US “president” Donald Trump, revealing the striking similarities in their racism.

Take a listen:

Here’s the catch. Business Insider reports that some of the quotes are fake:

After the Verwoerd voice proclaims that “Blacks cannot rule themselves”, and “Let us all accept that the black man is the symbol of mental inferiority and laziness”, Trump follows with “Laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that.”

“If the words of apartheid prime minister HF Verwoerd and president of the United states Donald J Trump taught us anything – it’s that there’s never been a better time to learn from the mistakes of our past,” the ad ends.

Except – those weren’t their words.

Although it does sound like something that Trump might say, the quote is actually voiced by an actor. If you listen closely, it doesn’t even sound like him.

It comes from the 1991 book “Trumped”, written by a former Trump Plaza executive, who claimed that Trump once said that “laziness is a trait in blacks.”

The quote used for Verwoerd apparently comes from a speech attributed to PW Botha on the internet, but the “speech” is reportedly a hoax.

The fake quotes were uncovered by Graeme Codrington, a listener of Bruce Whitfield’s The Money Show on Radio 702.

After the ad was aired on the show, he shared it with his social media followers, who alerted him to the problems.

“You can’t use lies to try and tell a truth,” Codrington told Whitfield in an interview on Thursday evening.

Now TBWA\Hunt Lascaris and the Apartheid Museum might lose their Loerie.

In response to the revelations, Andrew Human, CEO of the Loeries, said that the ad is problematic and that the awards organisation is taking the situation very seriously. “We are waiting for the agency to give us a detailed response.”

The Apartheid Museum is a critical national resource, which has to be above reproach, presenter Whitfield observed.

Our museums need to maintain their credibility by being able to identify when something is historically inaccurate.

As for the ad – I could have told you that wasn’t Trump, because my ears didn’t bleed during the voice-over.

[source:businessinsider]