Actor Hamilton Dlamini is just as surprised as we are where they get Hyenas for adverts. (Youtube)
  • Nando's has released an ad that throws some serious shade at Absa and Absolut Vodka
  • The chicken purveyor takes a clear stab at the Absa-devised term "Africanacity" - renaming it "African-nasti"
  • However, Nando's says the references in the ad are all "generic".

Nando's new TV advert is throwing some vicious shade, with a burn so bad even we felt it. 

The ad pokes fun at the look of many adverts in South Africa these days, and takes a clear shot at recent campaigns from Absa and Absolut Vodka.

UPDATE: Absa tried to hit back at Nando’s – and now it is taking pain from competitors about its fees

"It's all looking the same," says Isithembiso actor Hamilton Dlamini in the advert.

The ad makes fun of the common tropes of recent South African ads, including burning TVs, neon, painted faces and hyenas - but with locals getting increasingly irritated as weird-looking people on thrones and coloured smoke bombs interfere with their actual African lives.

“There’s so much more to being South African than one narrow vignette and we thought it would be fun to point out some of the absurdities of it all,” says Doug Place, Nando's chief marketing officer.

"We love the aesthetic of African creativity," he says. "African-ness is layered, it doesn’t always have to look so derelict, so serious, so over the top, and all the same."

We are now selling things using hastags and facepaint

Absa's recent campaign is clearly derided in the new Nando's ad, which opens with two models kissing a bottle of "detergent" marked with the logo "African-nasti" - which looks a lot like Absa's new made-up word "Africanacity". 

But when asked by Business Insider which brands were referenced in the ad, Nando's responded: "We’ve just used generic references. Anyone could have designed the logo on the bottle that, but come to think of it we have seen something similar, but not for a bank."

See also: Netflix just took a jab at DStv in a new advert — here are 4 other times companies trolled each other

One of the two "generic" references include Absa's recent Africanacity campaign launched by the bank in July.

Overuse of facepaint and phrases that don't mean anything. Nando's calls for ads to keep things simple

 Another is the vodka brand, Absolut Vodka. The brand launched a pan-African campaign, featuring Motswako rapper, Khuli Chana.

Motswako rapper Khuli Chana in the original Absolut Vodka advert (Youtube)

Motswako rapper Khuli Chana in the original Absolut Vodka advert (Youtube)

The rapper can also be seen in the Nando's ad, where he basically parodies his own brand.

Motswako rapper, Khuli Chana in the Nando's advert parodying his own brand Absolut Vodka (Youtube)

View the ad here:

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