Wax on, Wax off 1980’s style

20 April 09 Categories: Laugh it Off

Online Shop Launched (Beta)

17 April 09 Categories: Laugh it Off

Just History repeating itself

17 April 09 Categories: Laugh it Off

I was going through some backup files (for the launch of your online shop if you must know) and came accross this design that appeared in the very first volume of our Annuals.

Still holds true now as when it was first published five years ago…

Reprint poll

9 April 09 Categories: Laugh it Off

Statement by the National Director of Public Prosecutions on the matter S v Zuma and others

8 April 09 Categories: Laugh it Off

Introduction
I stand before you today to announce the most difficult decision I ever made in my life. It was not an easy task at all. I had the privilege of having listened to inputs and comments of very eminent jurists of the NPA and I am thankful to them for their candid and frank arguments.

It was then and it still is difficult for me to comprehend that which is set out below could have happened. The painful facts that I am about to put before you have serious implications for the integrity and independence of the NPA especially regarding the prosecution of Mr Zuma.

We believe that it is vital that the NPA must expose this conduct and deal with the consequences as honestly and constructively as possible if it is to have any chance of rebuilding its credibility and integrity. Our democracy will have to find ways to learn from this bitter experience and to build a stronger and more independent NPA.

Download the entire statement here

Sudden Discomfort (Corpowit Calendar Shoot)

7 April 09 Categories: Laugh it Off

Sudden Discomfort Shoot (Corpowit Calendar)

Can South Africa laugh at itself? We shall soon find out…
Laugh it Off’s most controversial publication to date – the Corpowit Calendar – is coming soon.

It’s an election year in South Africa, and so there would seem no better time than now to spoof our country’s most well-known brands — be they politicians, parastatals, or products.

No one is spared the rod that is Laugh it Off’s brand-spanking satire in 13 cheeky brand spoof ‘photographic subverts’ all wrapped up and presented in a 2010 calendar that will have South Africans laughing out loud, and the lawyers grumbling quietly.

From future president Jacob Zuma and his juvenile sidekick Julius Malema, to government-owned companies such as Telkom and SAA — not to mention booze, cellphone, and fast food companies — Laugh it Off will no doubt be testing the humour and tolerance of the targets they poke fun at in their ‘Corpowit Calendar’.

All 13 full-colour photographs were taken by photographic legend Obie Oberholzer, who Laugh it Off had to coerce out of semi-retirement to tickle some South African funny bones and cause some more kak.

Oberholzer last worked with Laugh it Off in 2004 during the height of their court battles with SABMiller. The publication that came about as a result of their efforts — the 2005 Laugh it Off Chronicles Calendar — was ruthlessly interdicted by SABMiller after it had gone to print, meaning that the final product never saw the light of day.

When Obie Oberholzer was asked as to why he was involved, he said that it was ‘just another job’ for him as a photographer, except the pay was lousy and the risks were high.

Zumanizer (2010 Corpowit Calendar Shoot)

7 April 09 Categories: Laugh it Off

Get some slippery soap

6 April 09 Categories: Laugh it Off

Article by Sue Segar first appeared in the The Witness 03 Apr 2009

Do you ever get the urge to feel presidential? If so, then maybe you’re a candidate for a bottle of Zuma Shower Gel, the latest offering from the irreverent Laugh it Off team.

Best known for their reputation as “shirt-stirrers” for their controversial T-shirts spoofing South African individuals and companies, Laugh it Off have come up with a shower gel ahead of this month’s national elections.

“It sells for about R80 and is made in association with the Cape-based company, Aromatic Apothecary. It works really well and smells like After Eight Mints,” said Laugh it Off proprietor Justin Nurse in an interview with The Witness this week.

Nurse said the collaboration came about when Laugh it Off and Aromatic Apothecary – which manufactures homeopathic soaps and other products – found themselves alongside each other in their product stalls at the Grahamstown Festival.

“We were selling T-shirts at the festival. For a few years, we have been selling next to them. We suggested they test a co-branding project and that we should try a Zuma shower gel,” said Nurse.

The idea took root and two months later, the product was on the shelves of the Big Blue Stores in Gauteng and the Cape. In Durban, a shop called Mooi is stocking the gel. Nurse said Big Blue has, so far, sold about 800 bottles.

The gel is advertised as being “for all skin types”.

Laugh it Off has already produced a Zuma T-shirt featuring the same logo as the gel.

Asked whether he has had any response from Zuma supporters, Nurse said: “Yes, when we launched the Zuma T-shirt, we received a phone call from someone from the ANC Youth League who said we should not be doing this. We ignored the call.”

Asked whether he has sent Zuma a bottle of Zuma shower gel, Nurse said, “No”. However, he will send Zuma a copy of the picture depicting the ANC leader which will be used in Laugh it Off’s “Corpowit Calendar”.

“It should ruffle a few feathers, no doubt,” was all Nurse would say.

Nurse, who was born in Cape Town and studied Journalism and Politics at Rhodes University, started producing satirical T-shirts that spoofed famous brands while he was still at university.

The enterprise resulted in the establishment of Laugh it Off. The company made the headlines in 2001 when SAB Miller slapped a lawsuit against it, claiming that Laugh It Off’s parody of the Black Label beer brand was an infringement of its trademark. The offending T-shirt had altered the beer’s slogan “Black Label, Carling Beer” to read: “Black Labour, White Guilt”.

After a lengthy battle that went all the way to the Constitutional Court, Laugh It Off won its case in 2005. The Constitutional Court found Nurse’s T-shirts were satirical and his right to freedom of speech outweighed the SA Breweries trade mark.

Ever the controversialist, Nurse made waves when his case was being heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein and he was caught having his photograph taken behind the chief justice’s chair.

He then put his picture up among those of the judges in the Constitutional Court – placing his photograph next to that of retired judge Richard Goldstone. His photograph remained in place for a few days before being discovered by a security guard.

Laugh it Off has also published a collection of poetry by Kgafela oa Magogodi as well as the popular Laugh It Off Annuals, which feature graphic design, short stories, poetry, cartoons, as well as interviews, photography, and articles from established literary figures.

Nurse said Laugh it Off is also producing a calendar that spoofs Zuma, Julius Malema, SAA and Telkom, among other South African infamous icons.

They have also shot a viral video, he said. “We are also working on a new Laugh it Off Annual, as well as a book on 2010 for FNB.”

Laugh it Off is also currently working on a second Zuma T-shirt, which features Zuma as a ninja turtle. The calendars will be available ahead of the elections at the same outlets as the gel.

(no title)

2 April 09 Categories: Laugh it Off

If you really want to see the video: check it out at Heat Magazine at http://heat.co.za/joostgate

Wifebeating at Rhodes….

2 April 09 Categories: Laugh it Off

The offending poster

Grahamstown – Some female Rhodes Students got into kak with the powers that be at the Varsity for advertising their ‘Wifebeater Wednesday’ vests for sale on Rhodes Campus.

They’ve been given community service after pleading guilty to… what exactly? Misogynism? Promoting gender violence? Come on Rhodes Registrar… a ‘wifebeater’ is just a phrase, and by using the phrase in everyday vocab you help clear up any taboo there may be around wifebeating by putting the issue on the table and forcing people to think about the issue, albeit by using humorous means to do so. Besides, male Rhodes students don’t have wives; they prefer beating up on themselves in drinking club occasions such as Vietnam Day.

Justin Nurse