Campaign contributions
FNB’s advertising campaign, You Can Help, has these words of wisdom to offer on its www.youcanhelp.co.za website: “If we start with the small things, the big things won’t be so hard.” As we know, government did not view the campaign as one of those ‘small
Having future voters, rather than the media, criticise our socio-economic ills probably struck a chord. FNB claims the TV clips were scripted and performance fees were paid, while the interviews posted online were unscripted and not paid for, which means at least some of the clips were a candid outpouring of children’s genuine feelings about their country.
FNB’s CEO Michael Jordaan took to Twitter to deny that was stepping down as head of FNB. He also denied that the campaign itself has been ditched, saying, “We do regret uploading offensive research clips. The inspiring You Can Help campaign itself hasn’t been withdrawn.” And the idea of the campaign is a good one – there’s nothing wrong with getting everyone involved in doing ‘small things’ to help make the country great.
Misplaced patriotism?
The relationship between government and business is complex, often tense, and perceived in a very different light depending upon where you stand. For this reason, government’s fury and FNB’s apology strike me as emblematic of where we may be headed this year – we may see much harder bargaining between the public and private sectors as government attempts to deliver on its mandate in the face of a growingly irritable, dissatisfied citizenry.
Mangaung’s business-friendly message notwithstanding, government is not about to tolerate what it views as inflammatory statements from business.
We have seen both calls to boycott FNB and outpourings of support for FNB, suggesting that South Africans feels so passionately about this tinder-box issue that they’re willing to withdraw their money from the bank (or switch to the bank, as the case may be). A similar case in the US saw Wholefoods’ CEO John Mackey being widely criticised for taking Obama’s healthcare reforms to task – customers either called for a boycott of Wholefoods or came out in support of the fiery free-market libertarian.
One blog comment from a customer was telling: “I love your store but not more than I love my country.”
This is what business in South Africa needs to be aware of. Patriotism takes many forms, but a marketing campaign that has a smidgen of criticism in its well-meaning concerns for the future won’t be viewed as patriotic.
I’m not suggesting that free speech be curtailed; but caution does need to be exercised. Loyalty and politics are so closely intertwined these days that businesses make missteps at their peril, without fully grasping how fraught the issue will become – except that the furore will doubtless make news overseas once again, perhaps scaring off much-needed investment.
The loser, in the end, will be South Africa Inc.
Editor’s thoughts: Should business wade into political waters, without fear or favour? Have your say below, or email fiona@fanews.co.za.
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