KENYA’S BEST ADS OF ALL TIME

Kenya is a nation blessed with a great deal of Media Freedom. Media Freedom. Is this even a thing? Ask our Ugandan friends about media freedom whenever you meet one. They pay taxes for Tweets and Facebook posts.

Brands have taken advantage of this media freedom to sell their value to existing and potential customers by running series of Television Advertisements.

I sought to ask around what the best TV Ad campaigns have been. You know, the ones that you just sing along like a 6 – year old every time they come on. The ones that don’t make you want to change the channel when they keep coming on in between your favourite soap opera or soccer game. The ones you would say, ” Give me two ” without knowing what they are selling and what it can do for you.

Here are the top 5 best TV Ad campaigns of all time Kenyan history.

1. Niko Na Safaricom – Safaricom

Niko Na Safaricom is a campaign launched by Safaricom in 2010.

Its Lyrics portray a brand that simply empowers its customers, makes them stronger by uniting them and proudly inspiring them to do more, together, simply because they are with the Safaricom brand.

Safaricom has a tendency of using the Swahili Language in most of its campaigns and products. Twaweza; Hakikisha; MPesa; Fuliza; Skiza; Mswari; Songa among others. Let’s play the ad below and let’s sing together…

Nafurahia, Undugu na uko wetu. Nasherekea, Kazi na bidii yetu. Tuvute pamoja, Tushirikiane, Bega Kwa Bega tujikaze tusaidiane. Niko na… Niko na uwezo. Wakuji…Kujiendeleza. Niko na… Niko nayo nguvu. Nitaji… Nitajitahidi.  Niko na…  Niko na fanaka. Nitaji … Nitajitolea. Niko na … Niko na baraka.  Kwa kazi… Kazi nayofanya. Niko na …Fahari. Niko na furaha. Niko na uwezo. Niko na SAFARICOM. Niko Na…

2. Karibu Member – Equity Bank 

Karibu Member is a campaign that was run by Equity Bank Limited back in 2010.

The ad is 60 seconds of Kenyans from different parts of the country, who engage in various occupations, of different age groups, representing their hoods and pledging their allegiance to Equity Bank’s Membership in their native language! It starts with a fisherman from Kisumu who speaks Dholuo as he piles his load of fish from his boat; followed by a Maasai Elder from Narok who is holding a young lad, maybe his grandson, then a small bright girl, fluent in English, probably from one of these group of schools, representing Nairobi.

North Eastern Kenya is not left behind as a coluorfully – bearded man, probably from Mandera or Garissa, speaks his native language as his goats graze near him. A nurse from Kitale speaks some Kalenjin at the foreground of the hospital she serves, followed by the opulence and fluent Swahili of a Mombasa businessman. A Kisii farmer who has displayed her Matoke at the local market tells us of her membership in Kisii Language and lastly, a Kamau, or Njuguna, or maybe even a Macharia like me, from Nyeri. He displays his zero – grazing project with cows feeding gracefully in the background. The ad is closed of by the words: Karibu Member and the Equity Bank logo above it.

If this ad never made you want to become a Member, (without even knowing what you were signing up for), nothing ever will.

3. Together We Can Do More – Orange

Together We Can Do More is a campaign launched by Orange (Now Telkom or Airtel – Telkom, I don’t know) back in 2010. The ad is a minute and a half of three generations of people, from different ethnicities and backgrounds, coming together to create a phenomenal experience out of little efforts and contributions. They put little shukas together to form a large rope that they use to play the tag of war. Then they bring the shukas and create a large kite that flows high in the air representing how dreams of a community can soar to the mountains by coming together. All this is over Eric Wainaina’s and Oliver Mtukudzi’s (May He R.I.P) Legendary Hit, Twende Twende. 

This one, we have to sing together too.

4. Aromat – Unilver (Knorr)

If you had access to the internet between 2014 and 2016, you must have been part of the ‘But With Aromat‘ sensation that hit the web streets. They all were drawn from an ad run by the Knorr brand owned by the Unilever Group.  What on earth is Aromat to begin with? Aromat is the brand name of a mass-produced general-purpose seasoning produced in Switzerland and South Africa.

The ad starts with a pack of dry lifeless fries on a table and a ‘Knock Knock’ from outside the door. The fries, in a shaken voice ask, ‘Who’s there?’. Laughter cuts across the screen in a way that seems to embarrass the fries. Some guy, with the trademark Aromat voice, describes the fries as stupid, without aromat. But with aromat, they become unbelievable. The fries get alive. They get some colour. They stop looking like raw Nyandarua County potatoes and become fries you can pay for, say at Altona Fish and Chips along Tom Mboya Street.

The Aromat Effect was used by Kenyans as inspiration to generate thousands of memes, showing images of people before they became successful and after success had rubbed its broom on them. Some just showed comparisons between a good and a bad situation. They were hillarious!. Below are some of the best memes from the #ButWithAromat hashtag.

5. The Pride of Africa – Kenya Airways

The Kenya Airways Marketing team of 1994 definitely knew what they were doing if their legendary Pride of Africa ad is anything to go by.

The one – minute long ad starts with the view of a Savannah sunset, probably somewhere in the Mara, with a pair of lionesses basking in the few remaining rays of the sun. A beautiful black female, presumably a member of staff at the airline, starts off her day and heads to work dressed in the signature khaki suit. She escorts passengers to and from the plane happily, interacting with them like she has known them her whole life. A Boeing plane lands as another takes off in between images of what Kenya, and presumably, Africa, has to offer in terms of attractions; ranging from the Big 5 animals to birds such as the flamingos of Nakuru. The ad closes menacingly with the fierce roar of a lion and the Kenya Airways logo with the words: The Pride of Africa on still display.

For an ad set and created 25 years ago, they nailed it.

6. Maisha Iko Sawa na Trust

How old do you think Trust condoms are? Older than you, perhaps!

Trust condoms ran an ad over a decade ago that was so controversial that it got banned by the Kenya Film and Classification Board. I don’t know what Ezekiel Mutua would do to them now should they run a similar campaign, but what I know is that the geniuses behind it applied their minds in the design of the entire concept. It is set on the busy streets of a rainy Nairobi evening. A good – looking man (No Homo) is walking down the street, with his shirt halfway unbuttoned, a killer smile on his face and probably a gold chain on his neck. He stares at a pretty young lady across the street, who seems to be freezing from the cold.

The rain stops and the young woman slams down her umbrella and tries to return it into its porch. The wind blows away her porch and voila, the man appears. He gently peels off a pack of trust condoms and grabs the woman’s umbrella as he stares at her deeply in her eyes. He then slides down the condom down her umbrella slowly but steadily, amid the glare of everyone on the street. The sexual tension at this moment is undeniable. As soon as he is done, he leaves smiling as everyone claps and jubilates. The lady gets so jittery that she unknowingly presses her umbrella knob, but the umbrella does not open, since it’s wrapped in a Trust condom.

Whatever the hidden meaning of the whole knob thing, I don’t know. Maybe we can talk about it some other day.

DISCLAIMER

The videos embedded herein are not owned by me or anyone at www.kiirumacharia.com They have been posted only for the sole purpose of sharing information and credit has been given to their due owners.

No copyright infringement is intended.