For those of us outside South Africa, the new Nando's restaurant spot below, celebrating one of the "25 reasons we love South Africa," is super awkward on first viewing. A white woman who's loading her car with shopping bags is suddenly chased across the parking lot by several black men. She then locks the car and gives a sigh of relief before realizing one guy is still standing nearby. So, what's going on? These yellow-vested young men are apparently "car guards"—self-appointed watchmen who ask drivers for tips in exchange for keeping your car safe from vandals. With an unemployment rate around 25 percent, South Africa has thousands of car guards, who are often seen as little more than panhandlers. Judging from the litany of positive comments from viewers on YouTube and South African news sites, Nando's has obviously done a good job of capturing the frustration of dodging car guards before they can offer "assistance." It's an experience Cape Town Magazine once described this way: "You fumble with your keys as you struggle to open your car door, racing to get in before they can reach you. But deep down you know there's no escaping it—you resign yourself to your fate, and through the night rings out the all too familiar call: 'Baaaaaas, see your car fine, everything fine.' " For another Nando's ad that plays with racial stereotypes in a clever way, check out this summer's "Diversity" spot after the jump.
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