Opinion

Nando’s ads – tacky, but effective?

You’ve got to hand it to the guys at The Sphere Agency – they’ve managed to make Nando’s chicken synonymous with both tack and celebrity.  

Don’t get me wrong, that wasn’t actually meant as an insult. After all, who doesn’t enjoy hearing about the latest salacious gossip about the Britney Spears media circus, or watching a clip of Bruno’s crotch  landing on top of rapper Eminem during the MTV Movie Awards.

The agency’s cinema ad for Nando’s features the image of former AFL star and self styled “million dollar man” Warwick Capper, wearing tight leopard print trunks. It aired during the premier of New Moon to promote its new Tropico burger.

Is the ad tacky? Yes. Should Capper never been seen in leopard print trunks ever again? Yes. Does it sell chicken burgers? Well, I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say well actually I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

This latest ad from The Sphere Agency follows the publicity stunt in June when it hijacked the premier of the film Bruno, dispatching a fake Sacha Baron Cohen dressed as Bruno. Nando’s and its agency were no doubt rubbing their hands with glee from the media coverage that ensued.

And it must be doing something right if Nando’s has let it continue on with the strategy. Among other examples, it launched a radio ad during Spear’s concert tour in Australia where she was widely panned for her miming. It’s also taken a shot at Prime Minster Kevin Rudd with his “fair shake of the sauce bottle mate” comment. Yep, but in Nando’s case, it’s a fair shake of the Peri-Peri sauce bottle.

It’s an interesting strategy and while I’m not saying any of the ads are likely to win an award for best craft or script, what it appears to be successfully doing is keeping the brand top of mind by jumping on whatever the latest ‘so hot right now’ bandwagon that’s out there.

After all, they’re selling chicken at the end of the day. At least they’re trying to have a bit of fun with it, which is much more than I can say for the likes of KFC, with ads that are forgettable at best and at other times downright unconvincing.

Camille Alarcon

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