Ja, nee, hey – local is lekker.

Check out this product – it’s not kak, boet.

#notkak.

It’s a terrible hashtag on Instagram, and it doesn’t really translate that well into an almost two-minute-long advert.

We’re talking about South African computer manufacturer Mecer, and their new #WeAreAllSouthAfrican advert, which is proving pretty divisive on social media.

Before we go any further, just watch for yourself and see if you can spot why:

BUZZWORDS! SOUTH AFRICA! LEKKER! MORE WORDS! RAINBOW NATION! LOCAL!

Um, sorry, what? Surely, in the year 2019, we should have moved on from this lazy, clichéd model of thinking.

Here’s a large part of what makes it stink in a nutshell:

Business Insider with some of the quality rap lyrics you were just treated to, in case you zoned out:

One of the more memorable lines in the ad is: “We are Swati, we are Tsonga too, like a one-tonne bakkie, we do what we need to do.”

Other gems include: “With our rainbow nation, we maak ‘n plan, we are all South African” and “Don’t be a moegoe, just because it’s foreign doesn’t make it okay.”

Ja, nee, hey – I know it takes a little more work, but it’s still possible to create something that is #uniquelySouthAfrican and also #lekker.

I dunno, I’m just assuming we throw hashtags in wherever we want, because that’s what the junior copywriter who somehow got tasked with writing the copy for this advert would do.

In a statement shouting about how much they love their new campaign (it’s in all caps for some reason), Mecer wants to “highlight the company’s commitment to our beautiful country and all the people who make up our rainbow nation”.

You get a bonus point if you guessed that they would use the term ‘rainbow nation’ in the opening line.

More from that :

 A walk through of the impressive Mecer headquarters shows that the brand (to borrow from the campaign tagline) really does put their money where their mouth is with employees representing every possible South African culture including quite a number of people from the disabled community.

The infectious enthusiasm of the employees is evident in the brand video which involved around 40 extremely talented staff volunteers who show off their impressive singing and dancing skills.

“The staff were amazing” says Mecer Brand Ambassador, Anle Els, “I think the filming of the video was really great experience for everyone who volunteered.  They were really excited to see themselves on screen when we played the video internally prior to the start of the campaign. You never know we might even have some future stars among us!”

Perhaps, but a future star did not come up and create this advert, nor approve the concept.

Let’s get some of the reactions on Twitter:

Be honest, you also thought it was for Takealot at the start, didn’t you?

Back to the takedowns:

You don’t have to be involved in the marketing game, or have an interest in advertising, to recognise that this is all over the show.

An example of local adverts done well – here and here. Easy.

Look, we throw a ‘local is lekker’ in there now and again, because when it’s done well it is. We also like to promote South African owned and run businesses, that create jobs and empower this country’s citizens, but this advert is a fail.

Or a #fail.

It’s #notnotkak.

[sources:businessinsider&mecer]