Fake sign language interpreter hired for advertising campaign
By Aggregated content - 08 May 2014 - 10:36
The advertisement for Livelens, a social livestreaming app that recently raised US$2 million, has Mr Jantjie poking fun at himself.
The man who gained infamy around the world for his horribly wrong sign language at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service is making a comeback.
Thamsanqa Jantjie’s nonsensical interpretations of speeches from U.S. President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela’s grandchildren - at one point he signed the phrase ‘hand me the scissors’ - made global headlines in December 2013 for all the wrong reasons.
Cashing in on the fraudulent interpreter’s notoriety, an Israeli company has now hired him to be the face of its product in a new advertising campaign.
The advertisement for Livelens, a social livestreaming app that recently raised US$2 million, has Mr Jantjie poking fun at himself.
‘Hi, I’m Thamsanqa Jantjie from Nelson Mandela’s funeral,’ he says at the start of the commercial.
‘Believe me, I’m a real sign language interpreter,’ he says, as a female voiceover verbalises the sign language as having said: ‘I speak signed language – not.’
Mr Jantjie has been treated in a psychiatric facility since his appearance at the Mandela memorial, and the ad campaign will undoubtedly raise questions about the morality of Livelens exploiting a person with mental illness.
But Livelens CEO Max Bluvband attempted to justify his company's decision by saying that giving money to a person with mental illness was a good thing.
'We decided that the guy who had the worst live show ever would be the best person,' Mr Bluvband told NBCNews.
'At the end of the day, a schizophrenic guy got paid and did a nice campaign... We see it as sort of a sad story with a happy ending.'
In February, the company reportedly had a Zulu-speaking journalist visit the psychiatric facility where Mr Jantjie had been staying since December.
Released for one day to attend a bogus ‘family event’, the advertisement was shot while he was on day release.
Fake sign language interpreter hired for advertising campaign
The advertisement for Livelens, a social livestreaming app that recently raised US$2 million, has Mr Jantjie poking fun at himself.
The man who gained infamy around the world for his horribly wrong sign language at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service is making a comeback.
Thamsanqa Jantjie’s nonsensical interpretations of speeches from U.S. President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela’s grandchildren - at one point he signed the phrase ‘hand me the scissors’ - made global headlines in December 2013 for all the wrong reasons.
Cashing in on the fraudulent interpreter’s notoriety, an Israeli company has now hired him to be the face of its product in a new advertising campaign.
The advertisement for Livelens, a social livestreaming app that recently raised US$2 million, has Mr Jantjie poking fun at himself.
‘Hi, I’m Thamsanqa Jantjie from Nelson Mandela’s funeral,’ he says at the start of the commercial.
‘Believe me, I’m a real sign language interpreter,’ he says, as a female voiceover verbalises the sign language as having said: ‘I speak signed language – not.’
Mr Jantjie has been treated in a psychiatric facility since his appearance at the Mandela memorial, and the ad campaign will undoubtedly raise questions about the morality of Livelens exploiting a person with mental illness.
But Livelens CEO Max Bluvband attempted to justify his company's decision by saying that giving money to a person with mental illness was a good thing.
'We decided that the guy who had the worst live show ever would be the best person,' Mr Bluvband told NBCNews.
'At the end of the day, a schizophrenic guy got paid and did a nice campaign... We see it as sort of a sad story with a happy ending.'
In February, the company reportedly had a Zulu-speaking journalist visit the psychiatric facility where Mr Jantjie had been staying since December.
Released for one day to attend a bogus ‘family event’, the advertisement was shot while he was on day release.
Click below to view the advert
SOURCES: www.dailymail.co.uk, www.youtube.com
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