In their own words as recorded in the courts recently, Justin Nurse and five of his friends are "conscientious objectors to mass-market mediocrity" who grew up "to be brand atheists". Last month a South African court ruled that their company, Laugh it Off Promotions, could not sell T-shirts that parody the Carling Black Label trademark of South African Breweries (SAB).

The South African media have roundly and correctly condemned the ruling. "Last week saw a giant leap forward for corporate hegemony along with an equally giant leap backwards for freedom of speech", the Mail & Guardian wrote.

The copyrighted SAB trademark and advertising slogan – aimed at black working class men in South Africa. - says: "Black Label Carling : Africa’s lively lusty beer since 1952". Nurse and his friends reproduced the trade mark on a T-shirt but changed the words to say: " "Black Labour, White Guilt: Africa’s lusty, lively exploitation since 1652. No regard given worldwide". According to the Sunday Times, Nurse calls it ‘ideological jiujitsu’ in which the weight of a brand is used against itself.

T-shirts

SAB is a huge beer company and monopoly in South Africa. It also brews and sells beer in many other African countries – virtually all over the continent. It bought the giant Miller’s brewing company in the USA last year. SAB has been roundly condemned for what many see as heavy-handed corporate action against a small group of activists, who at best sold only a few hundred of these T-shirts.

Media commentaries and headlines about the court action and the decision to grant an interdict against the sale of the T-shirts said that "while the beer may be lusty and lively, the company’s bitter froth tasted humourless and bullying", "Too afraid to leave the laagers" and "Another triumph for the corporate bully boys".

Humour

The court essentially ruled that the activists were free to express their opinions, but not by doing it for gain - using other people’s trademarks. But as a columnist of the Sunday Times - Carmel Rickard - pointed out, a medium has been censored here. In order "to reach a particular audience, one uses the appropriate vehicle to reach that audience. That’s what popular culture is all about. Ban the manner and you effectively ban the message".

One of the supreme ironies in this case is that SAB recently agreed to sponsor the newly created "SAB Chair of Media and Democracy" at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape. Further to the list of accusations so far recorded against SAB in the media (corporate bully, no sense of humour, oppressor of free speech) this author would now also like to add the charge of 'hypocrite'.

Jeanette Minnie is an advisor to NiZA on the issue of freedom of expression.

More information:
Laugh it Off
SA Breweries