Sports Illustrated South Africa's Quirky New Ad Campaign: Black Panthers, Hitler

It can't be easy marketing an American-style sports magazine in a country only 15 years removed from apartheid, which is probably why Sports Illustrated South Africa feels the need to give the hard sell now. By which I mean, Hitler.

Here (via Copyranter) are three fake covers by Saatchi & Saatchi Cape Town for what I'm fairly certain is Sports Illustrated South Africa, an SI partner that by all evidence shares little more than a title, a logo and a taste for discreetly exposed nipples. (I called Saatchi & Saatchi Cape Town, but no one was in the office. Still awaiting response from Sports Illustrated and Saatchi & Saatchi's New York office.)

According to Best Ads on TV: "The brief for Saatchi & Saatchi Cape Town was to reposition Sports Illustrated Magazine as more than a place to get scores, results and trivia." Mission ... accomplished?

The fake Hitler cover is certainly tacky, and it's bad history besides. Sports Illustrated, as Copyranter notes, didn't start publishing until 1954. Far, far worse, however, is the Black Panther cover, for the obvious reason that neither Tommie Smith nor John Carlos were actual Black Panthers. Geez, guys. Maybe you should try giving away Sneaker Phones instead?

SI uses faux covers to posit they ain't just scores and swimsuits [Copyranter]