Courier company can use 'Lord's name’ in advert
The Courier Guy company has been let off the hook after the Advertising Regulatory Board dismissed a woman’s complaint that it used ‘the Lord's name’ in vain.
A TimesLIVE report says Vanessa Roux submitted that she took offence to the word ‘jirre’, which is the Cape way of saying ‘Here’ (God) from a commercial she heard on Hot 91.9FM during June 2021.
The commercial features a lady saying: ‘Immediate effect hey? Huh! Ja-né. So I’ve got my mom’s birthday present here in Kloofendal. She’s mos innie Kaap! Now I must queue at the counter, to send it to her door, jirrr, queues are so 2019. No man!’
Roux explained that she was brought up to not take the Lord’s name in vain.
The advertiser emphasised that the commercial has nothing to do with religion and that the word used is ‘jir’ not ‘jirre’.
This is a common expression in Cape Town and is akin to words like ‘jislaaik’, used to denote irritation.
The board noted that SA is a secular society with many religions represented in its people. Different religions have different rules, and it would be impossible for advertising to comply with all the rules for all the religions and sects thereof – this would require advertisers not to advertise pork products, not to show women with uncovered hair, and various other examples.
‘It is not reasonable for a member of a particular religion to expect advertising to comply with all the rules of that religion. The commercial is therefore not found to be in contravention of clause 1 of section II of the code.’
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
