And, knowing Namibians, black people can’t run anything. Much less an advertising agency Dear Anyone who will accept this as my personal opinion: I must admit the sheer apathy of us Namibians is now bordering on stupidity. It never ceases to amaze me how we see injustice and just walk right by. A case in point: the International Day for Women that has just passed. Only a trickling of people came to the event. Yet, this was a day selected to mark a commitment to the end of violence against our women and children. Where was everybody who had expressed dismay at the extent of violence being perpetuated aganst our young ones? Where were the women for that matter? – the mothers, the sisters, the brothers, the fathers? No one came. Conversely, we see a situation like the recently concluded Gecko awards where tons of people came, but the same people could not raise at least one dissenting voice at the parade of sheer prejudice that was on display that night. I worked in advertising in Cape Town for some years before deciding to come back home. By then I was already a burnt-out professional and all I needed was the peace I had hoped Windhoek would offer. Since then, I have worked on the client side, but the allure of the glamour of advertising has never stopped pulling me. Hence, I go to the Geckos to remind myself of all that I am supposedly missing. The first thing that always strikes me about the event is the extent to which this industry is controlled by a handful of white people. Almost every single agency in this country has less than three black people, if any. Although, if you check their profiles, they would insert pictures of black people whom we later find out to be cleaners or security guards! This they do to get business from government parastatals who insist on a certain level of BEE policy. The second thing one notices is the number of foreigners who work in the advertising agencies. These agencies would rather hire a foreigner than give our many young creative minds a chance. The third, and most important, is the extent of bad work that is put on display at the awards ceremony. To me, it is strange that Namibian advertising is so populated by plagiarism that no one speaks about. Take the Telecom “Switch” campaign – Ipod. Take the much-maligned “Dekaffirnated” billboard. It was a very popular play of the same title in South Africa a number of years back. We know this, but we let it go. More than this, it is the portrayal of black people in these ads. The best outdoor award went to a most disturbing portrayal of black people by Standard Bank. It’s a picture of a man who had just spent thousands of dollars for a sofa. Now he is so broke he cannot afford to access the delivery service of the furniture company! He places the sofa on a bicycle and trudges home – with a wide smile, of course. What is a black man without that “Yes Mashta” smile? How desperate! How sad! How totally misguided! Yet we accept this and give it an award! Let’s not forget, this is part of a campaign that also portrayed a Katutura woman with a microwave (out of the box!) on her head! Guys please! Why are you doing this? Why are we portrayed like this, day in and day out? And we accept it! A quick note to Standard Bank: Study the respect given black people by Bank Windhoek in their communication. Emulate it. Yet this bank is headed by a white man. And you, Standard, are headed by a black man. Too sad! Let us talk about the event itself. I paid 450 dollars for a ticket and all I got was a pitiful-looking sausage with green salad. Let’s not forget that they were kind enough to give us bread. The entertainment was abysmal, and thank God for our Gazza, otherwise the evening would have been a total fiasco. Goes to show again how we relegate our local gifts to the background and elevate foreigners. The imported band was an embarrassment, and if Simon Cowell of American idols was there, he would have called them the most amateurish band in history. Personally, someone should tell the organizer of the event to find another job. This is the second year running that they have messed up what used to be a glitzy and grand affair. Which leads me to the judges… According to records, at least one of the judges (there are two from South Africa, no less), has been judging this event for the past four years in a row! Come on guys! Who are you fooling? Where is the objectivity, especially when I can tell DV8’s work from a mile or tell Advantage McCann’s work from less. After four years, Mr. Ross Chowles (one of the more touted judges who believe that Namibia is “just like South Africa”) should be able to have excused himself and urged the organizers to: (1) get new people; (2) encourage local presence on the pane; (3) encourage some kind of gender balance on the panel; (4) demand that at least one black person be part of the panel. No. None of these was done, and the result was that the same agencies that got awards last year and the year before, were the ones that got them again. Like our country is stuck in a rut! A miserable logo for John Meinert received best logo award – considering the fact that John Meinert was one of the sponsors of the event. A sad-looking work for Kalahari Sands got another award – but this was to be expected; they were both sponsors and the official hotel of the event. Oh, by the way, almost every sponsor got an award. Too bad for agencies not working for a sponsor. Mr. Andrew Weir, admittedly a good designer, got the Grand Prix the second time running for the same kind of blaxploitation work for which he is becoming well known. The lack of originality in the whole selection was so obviously biased that one could only ask: Is everybody dumb or are they just playing dumb? I pity Namibians. We are ignoring a major industry that in other countries controls the cultural psyche of the people. To date, we have no Advertising Board, no Censorship Board, no place where consumers can run to for recourse. What is the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting doing? Nothing! I pity the marketing managers of this country, for it is clear that we keep falling for the same trap. We run to companies with “fixed” awards to give business to. Their bias is shameless, as exhibited in the disgusting way one Muazi of Agribank kept jumping on DV8’s people. You’d think he worked there and not just a crude voice over for one of their below-standard radio ads – which, of course, won an award. Actually numerous awards. No marks for guessing where Agribank’s business is going this year, or the next. You want the anti-corruption people to really work? Send them to Cell One. When InformantÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚© carried the news of the underhanded way in which millions of dollars of business was awarded to The Win Win group – a white team with one “darkie for hire” – there was silence. Hangala, what did you do? Oh let’s keep quiet. And knowing Namibians, all these will blow over soon. Of course, it did. Now Win Win even signs off on the Cell One jobs – shamelessly! Please note that if Cell One awarded the contract to Win Win through a pitch, there would be no problem. Rather, it was GIVEN by the British MD to another foreigner over cocktails at the Wine Bar. Why? Because he can. We let him. For how long will we let this go on? Mind you, I am all for talent. And I really do not want to play the race card on this matter; it’s just that the pretence of the people in the advertising industry is becoming pandemic! You are not Namibians, you do not respect Namibians and have managed to con the Namibian public into believing something false. Namibians, let’s look at ourselves and for once ask all the right questions. Let’s force these agencies to respect our intellect, stop insulting us and make them develop our own people. Let’s force them to be accountable for once! Too much money goes into the hands of these people who cannot even credit us with enough intelligence to be on the judging panel of the Namibian advertising awards. Please! Let’s claim back what should be ours. As for the Geckos next year, I will be there. And, knowing Namibians, this letter would have fallen on deaf ears and the winners will be – DV8: 15 awards; Advantage MaCann: 12 awards; (this can change according to what both decide at the inner caucus meeting then it would be DV8: 12; Advantage: 15; Andrew Weir (another grand prix for his design of a basket carried by the Himbas – with the line ‘Topless Maid in Africa’); and Ogilvy will get 2, (hopefully with better photography!); TBWA: one or two awards (to silence the owner from a letter writing rampage!) one. Is there a token available? Oh yes! Let’s give it to the occasional black agency – the type that springs up twice a year; they would have closed shop in the following year anyway. No real competition. Everyone knows black people can’t run anything. Much less an advertising agency. Or its award ceremonies. Sad! ANGRY NAMIBIAN