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Johannesburg - The "Last Dictator Standing" TV commercial currently running in South Africa will be cancelled, the Nando's restaurant chain said on Thursday.
"We've noted with concern the political reaction emanating out of Zimbabwe, including perceived threats against Nando's Zimbabwe's management, staff and customers," the company said in a statement.
On Tuesday, a militant youth group loyal to Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe called for a boycott of Nando's because of the ad.
Nando's SA said it took these threats very seriously and would no longer flight the TV commercial as part of its festive season campaign
Volatile climate
"We feel strongly that this is the prudent step to take in a volatile climate and believe that no TV commercial is worth risking the safety of Nando's staff and customers."
The commercial shows Mugabe dining alone at Christmas, his empty table set for departed dictators, including Muammar Gaddafi.
To the soundtrack of Mary Hopkin's hit song Those Were the Days, the commercial shows an actor playing Mugabe reminiscing about his times with former dictators. It portrays him and Gaddafi engaging in a water pistol fight, with Gaddafi wielding a golden AK-47.
Mugabe also makes sand angels with Iraq's Saddam Hussein, sings karaoke with Chairman Mao, and holds overthrown Ugandan dictator Idi Amin astride a tank.
The head of Nando's Zimbabwe franchise said it was not informed of the South African television and press campaign.
It is an offence under Zimbabwean law to insult Mugabe or undermine the authority of his office.
Pull the dic(k)tator ads because the dic)k)tators lackeys are foaming at the mouth...
JUSTICE, n A commodity which is a more or less adulterated condition the State sells to the citizen as a reward for his allegiance, taxes and personal service.
The cynic in me has to wonder if this isn't just Nando's way of getting more free publicity?
Remember the ad with the blind lady's guide dog dropping her down a manhole? That was so planned in advance.
MOOD - Thirsty
A surprising amount of modern pseudoscience is coming out of the environmental sector. Perhaps it should not be so surprising given that environmentalism is political rather than scientific.
Timothy Casey
But why should Mad Bob's thugs threaten Nando's Zimbabwe for an advert that was created for the South African outlets and presumably screened in South Africa?
Do we meddle that much in their affairs?
"Humankind cannot bear very much reality." T.S. Elliot
I have to agree it is not worth risking your employees lives over an ad. But then again just censor it from Zim. They should hold no influince on our countries laws and as it was produced in our country my words to uncle bob would be "Go **** yourself!".
Rubbish Mugabe can do whatever he likes and nobody will do anything about it because there is no oil in Zim.
"Integrity" and "integer" both contain a Latin root meaning "whole; complete." The root sense, then, is that people may be said to be acting with integrity when their beliefs, words, and actions have a sense of unity or wholeness.
