Today is World Rhino Day. A new CSI ad by Ogilvy Mather Johannesburg for the Castle Lager Boucher Legacy is a call to action to help save the rhino so brutally preyed upon by poachers.*
The advert starts with a strong, solid, wise sounding, masculine voiceover: “We the 21 000 ancient beats that roam the veld before time…” making one wonder who is, what are they talking about?
While the voiceover carries on there are a series of visuals of individuals, from all different walks of life, cultures, genders and races but they all seem to have a rather depressed demeanour and look quite vulnerable. During this time one still is wondering who the voiceover is as well as what and whom he is talking about.
As the advert goes on people start coming together and uniting, with the emphasis of people from all walks of life in South Africa joining hands. At the end there is a short visual of a rhino with a beautiful horn. It is at this point one realises the voiceover has been from the perspective of the rhino, asking people across South Africa to unite and protect rhinos as they form a large part of South Africa’s heritage.
The advert is very profound and hits home for South African’s as anyone can relate to the individuals in the video. One cant help but feel compelled to be part of making a difference by uniting to protect our heritage. The advert is different to any other gory, shock tactic related anti-rhino poaching advert; it is turning it all around and giving the rhino a voice thus appealing to everyone’s emotional side.
Mark Boucher, who is a very well known and respected South African sportsman and celebrity, is shown a few times throughout the advert thus giving the cause some credibility and celebrity status. All in all, the advert has a strong goose-bump effect, it is relatable, emotive and profound thus making it memorable and will give people something to ponder on and talk about amongst peers.
British rock band Coldplay, donated the use of their master recording and publishing rights to their song, Paradise.
* Using the Rhino DNA Index System project, run by the VGL Lab based in Onderstepoort, the Castle Lager Boucher Legacy want to DNA profile every individual rhino in South Africa. This will provide a powerful disincentive to poachers as every horn can be traced back to its source. This technology has already been used to put poachers behind bars, with the system being used in cases of rhino poaching already. The foundation have already tagged 616 rhino and want to extend this protection to all South African rhinos and, hopefully, beyond the country’s borders.
[Ad reviewed by Rosalie Frost is a student at the Red & Yellow School]
