Did Red Bull over step the line?

(Clip from Red Bull Advert - Source: www.zalebs.howzit.msn.com)

A lot of comments, blogs, tweets and articles were written in the last week about Red Bull's Jesus advert -  if you type in   the words "Red Bull + Jesus advert" in Google search you will get 4,180 000 results!

The question for most people was, why would Red Bull use  religion to sell their product? In a country where the last census (2001) indicated that 79.1 percent of the country is Christian. Furthermore, 36 percent are Christians belonging to African indigenous churches - you are bound to offend somebody.

And let's be honest, Red Bull cartoons have always looked at well known themes with a twinkle in the eye, it is surely not their intention to offend anybody. So the question  remains - why did Red Bull go with the Jesus advert in a Christian faith dominant country? Did they analyse their stakeholders? Maybe the Communication team did have a close look at 'who' their audiences are and new that if they give them something controversial to look at, that we will be talking, laughing, debating  over the advert long after the advert has been removed...

Red Bull Princes and the Frog (Source:www.redbull.com)

Viral PR - what are we waiting for?

(Source: www.imagebank.com)

I've read an interesting article this weekend in the Mail & Guarding (March 16 to 22 2012, p 30): Viral sensation an effective antidote to social fatigue. The journalist explored the question of social media and asked the question what value, if any at all, does it add to our society? 

The article explored the value of viral sensation and the use of social media in non-govermental organisations (NGOs) and makes the reference to the Kony 2012 campaign. A USA organisation - Invisible Children - brought the attention to the long-standing Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, whose atrocities include using child soldiers.

Looking at the documentary, if you agree or not, played an important PR role - we have watched it and we have been talking about the issues the video raised and we have shared it. The viral campaign gave voice to the voiceless and got the message across. There are in today's communication environment place for viral PR!

Gender issues - are we making a difference?

I was taken back this week by a comment made by one of my first year students during a class discussion, "men can not be raped..". Needless to say, the discussion in class was heated. But this made me think of how much more we need to do to educate our society about such a sensitive issue. And how can we cross the cultural barriers?

I've looked at the "Slut Walk" campaign, which is an ant-rape campaign and the title has caught the attention of the world. However, what amazed me, was that even in a world recognised campaign there was no mention begin made to male victims and the campaign builds on an old perception that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised". 

We need a campaign that educates across the board because statistics in South Africa give us a very different pictures of rape victims. A study done in 2008 uncovered endemic sexual abuse of male children that was suspected, but poorly documented according to Neil Andersson and Ari Ho-Foster of the Centre for Tropical Disease Research in Johannesburg. The study highlighted:

• The survey carried out in 1 200 schools across the country asked 127 000 boys aged between 10 and 19 if they had ever been sexually abused and, if so, by whom.
• Forty-four percent of the 18-year-olds said they had been forced to have sex in their lives and half reported consensual sex.
• About a third said they had been abused by males, 41 percent by females and 27 percent said they had been raped by both males and females.

So maybe this year when it is time for the "Slut Walk" again, we will take the time to give voice to the opposite sex - rape does not happen only to females!

(Image: www.rapevictims.org.za)