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Nando's tells MultiChoice to take a hike

Cape Town – Nando's has said it will definitely not be advertising on MultiChoice's DStv channels after the way in which the pay TV platform dealt with the fast food chain as an advertiser.

Nando's has taken its new "Diversity" anti-xenophobia advertisement to On Digital Media (ODM) who has been showing the TV commercial across several of TopTV's channels since Thursday.

A day later, on Friday, MultiChoice said it is lifting its self-imposed ban on the Nando's ad – but Nando's says it's not coming back.

Severely criticised

Three weeks ago the SABC decided not to broadcast the now infamous "Diversity" ad from Nando's which, according to the brand, speaks out against xenophobia and tells South Africans to celebrate diversity.

MultiChoice showed the ad for four days after which they suddenly followed the SABC and instituted a self-imposed ban on the commercial. e.tv then followed suit.

Civil society and public freedom of speech groups severely criticised MultiChoice, the SABC and e.tv and slammed South Africa's broadcasters for not wanting to show the ad which addresses, through the use of hyperbole and in a satirical manner, the vexing issue of intolerance towards non South Africans.

On Wednesday TopTV announced that Nando's approached them and that the Nando's commercial will be shown across multiple TV channels on TopTV from Thursday.

'There won't be a shortly'


On Friday MultiChoice announced that it's lifting its ban. DStv Media Sales, the commercial advertising sales arm of MultiChoice's DStv and M-Net said "it will reinstate the flighting of the commercial shortly".

Nando's is now saying there won't be a "shortly", since Nando's is not interested in DStv showing its ad anymore. Nando's says MultiChoice won't be getting further money for showing the ad since DStv is no longer being approached to show the TV commercial.

Nando's says it believes that MultiChoice only reversed course because TopTV agreed to start showing the advert from Thursday.

Since the ad was banned from South African television and went viral it has been watched on Youtube over 450 000 times.

Watch the Nando's ad here:



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