Sylvester Chauke on his TED Talk and changing stereotypes and behaviours in advertising  

That cigarettes brand Muratti was one of the sponsors of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany is an indication of the shifts that can happen in the advertising space.

Tobacco advertising has since been prohibited on TV, radio, internet, in most print publications, and in most outdoor places in the European country. But the thought of banning cigarette advertising in the 30s must’ve sounded absurd, but it had to happen.

Seasoned South African advertising head Sylvester Chauke challenged the perceptions and behaviours in the advertising industry in his TED Talk in Paris late last year, the presentation was recently released.

Titled What if Advertising Was Honest, Chauke’s talk focused on the overindulgence which has led to a world of excessive consumerism, debt, and a shallow fixation on material possessions.

“The advertising and PR industry seems to be central to stimulating the problems we are facing. I think there is a clear need for us to relook at our approach so we can participate in curbing the issues or, at the least, help in ‘building better’,” Chauke told The Citizen.

Chauke tapped into his experience of more than two decades in the industry, to help relay his message.

“I have been proud of the impact we can have as an industry, but in the last decade particularly, we have seen that we are facing severe challenges as a globe.”

Chauke is the founder of DNA Architects which helps brands with strategy, reputation management, brand management, content creation and public relations. Some of Chauke’s accolades include winning the CNBC Africa’s All Africa Young Business Leader of the Year and BBQ Young Leader of the Year.

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Being responsible

“If we can convince people to buy more, we can convince people to buy less, buy differently,” averred Chauke in his presentation.

You would’ve sworn that Chauke took a leaf from Spiderman’s uncle who said with great power comes great responsibility and Chauke has understood the power that advertising has.

“The effects of our messages on mental health, debt, waste, etc, are even more dire. The industry could be a powerful ally in making a difference in the psyche of our society. Some brands already do this. I believe we can do more.”

He has been lauded on social media by friends and industry peers.

“Seeing the broader community resonate with the content is encouraging. This is a personal reflection, and I am even more encouraged to see that I am not the only one struggling with this tension of what we do as an industry.”

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Honest approach

TED Talk is a presentation platform which invites expert speakers from different parts of the world to share their knowledge on a variety of topics. TED Talk is found by US-Canadian non-profit media organisation TED Foundation, which posts the talks online for free distribution under the slogan “ideas worth spreading”.

“The biggest challenge was using the time allocation of 12 minutes to tell the story. I was editing and editing, and when I thought I was there, I was editing even more,” said Chauke.

“The experience was beautiful because it required one to search deep within oneself to express what is important to them for the world to engage in. The nerves were real, but I was more excited about sharing this story.”

Chauke was candid in his presentation, even being honest about South Africa’s issues such as load shedding and the country’s inequality.

“I needed to underscore that the things we never thought we would experience, in our case, load shedding, is already happening. Energy shortage and climate change impacts are real, and even here at we home are experiencing this,” said Chauke.

Chauke will use this year to embed the honesty approach into his company.

“The most important for me is to spread the message of Honesty Squads so that, as an industry, we can use our influence for the better.”

“This is not going to be the easiest thing to solve but I can see that we cannot just pretend that our influence as an industry is not harming people.”

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