South Africa

Earlier this year while reading the M&G I was shocked to read that Tom Eaton would be leaving the Sports pages. Fortunately for some among us, it turned out he was just being (hmm what is the word I'm looking for...aha) redeployed. His latest off-the-wall column concerning ABSA Bank's new advertising campaign is a good read :

"It is always gratifying to see big business tightening its belt, and Absa should be praised for its decision not to pay extravagant fees to an advertising agency to handle its “My bank” campaign. Indeed, in the fortnight since the launch of the campaign, it has become abundantly clear that Absa has not only economised by eschewing professional copywriters altogether, but has empowered previously marginalised camps by entrusting its re-branding to a band of rhesus monkeys chained to typewriters and supervised by crack addicts.

It is proving an inspired combination, the junkies bringing to the campaign variations on a theme of retardation and dependency, while the monkeys provide hypnotically stultifying repetition. So far the permutations of random nouns (imbued with a breathy, posturing, undergraduate whimsy by virtue of being used in very short sentences) are proving infinite...."

Definitely read the rest for yourself here.