WHILE I was mulling about the outdated advertisements on local television, I picked up a discussion on social media on the need to pull down commercials featuring celebrities that have fallen foul of the law.
My idea of outdated adverts stemmed from the Sumo Biscuits commercial which has singer-cum-actor Kabova telling a fellow passenger on a minibus that the biscuit costs less than K1 rebased.
That advert has been running for too long and now it is sending a distorted message given that as a country we are no longer using rebased on the currency.
Apart from that, I am sure by now the Sumo biscuit might no longer fetch that much on the market.
It was while I was occupied with these thoughts that someone just copied me into a Facebook discussion about the Airtel advert that has actor Owas Mwape who was recently sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour for forgery and uttering false documents.
Principal Lusaka Resident Magistrate Obbister Musukwa in his judgment said he was convinced that Mwape forged his ex-wife Saboi Imboela’s signature and uttered a false document in relation to a vehicle which he later put in his name.
Mwape forged the signature of his ex-wife and musician Saboi and changed ownership of the Nissan Elgrand vehicle which she purchased during her studies in Sweden.
In other parts of the world, celebrities are removed from adverts the moment they are seen convicted.
Former Toure de France champion Lance Amstrong who admitted to using banned performance enhancing substances was not only stripped of his seven titles but also removed from all commercials and endorsements.
Sportswear giant Nike, cycle maker Trek, sportswear firm Oakley and Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch cut ties with the former cyclist after the doping scandal.
The same thing happened to golfer Tiger Woods when it was revealed that he had extra marital affairs, footballer John Terry was stripped of the England captaincy for his secret affair with national teammate Wayne Bridge’s girlfriend.
Closer to home, South African athlete Oscar Pistorius saw companies that used him as a poster boy pull down billboards that had images of him as soon as news of him shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp broke out.
Nothing personal against Owas but the idea of using celebrities in adverts is that they are supposed to be role models of young people but when someone is convicted, they cease to be a model for people to look up to.
On the flip side, Owas must not be crucified for his conviction. The law has its own way of dealing with him and once he has served his term, it will be the choice of companies to use him in commercials again.
His conviction will surely not take away anything from his acting talent.
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Happy 2015  Xavier,
I appreciate the procurement of medical equipment for specialist treatment such as Cardiac and Renal problems.
This great investment needs to be acknowledged. However, I have a problem with the televising of the operation of young boy who had a heart problem.
Did the UTH management get consent from the parents before showing the operation on ZNBC Main News, did the parents consent from an enlightened perceptive or they just accepted because they wanted their son to be helped?
I also want to find out if the cameras, microphones, cables and other supporting gadgets were sterilised before shipping them into the theatre because there is a likelihood of transmitting infections into
the theatre if that was not done.
Medically, anything to be used in the theatre has to be sterilised, so if the equipment was sterilised then what method was used to do?
By the way, why should UTH market or publicise their services, is it ethically correct to announce or televise an operation by assuring the citizens that there are competent doctors at UTH?
To our national broadcaster, It is not news to announce that UTH has bought gloves, needles or whatever equipment because the hospital should have everything that is why it is a hospital unless there is a shortage that is
what become news.
In the same vein, why should the installation of a water pipe be news when it is a human right to have water. Water is a commodity that everyone is entitles 24 hours service.
Joe Lusaka
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From Mumbi Mutale, the public relations manager is a statement that ZNBC TV2 will now be on the DSTV platform.
On Thursday 8 January, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation 2 (ZNBC2) will go live on DStv channel 276, joining the great line up of channels on the DStv platform.
The ZNBC2 channel will give Zambian subscribers access to entertainment content and provide up to date news  from across the globe.
ZNBC2, which was launched on 15th January 2010, is the second channel of the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation. Since its inception, ZNBC2 has managed to create awareness for its brand to become a house-hold name in Zambia.
The channel has also managed to build loyalty among its viewers to become one of the best television stations in the country designed to attract different segments of people, with different interests, at different times.
This has made ZNBC2 the perfect channel to target all kinds of information seekers with interests ranging from politics to economy, finance, sports, science, technology, pop culture, general knowledge and so many other areas.
The 24-hour channel has become a source for information, education, entertainment and cultural programming in Zambia with broadcasts that include 21 hours of news per week.
ZNBC2 goes live on DStv Channel 276 (ONLY on IS20 platform) on 8 January 2015 at 10:00 CAT and will be available to all DStv subscribers.
Well, many thanks Mumbi. For me TV2 now faces serious competition in terms of programming from other channels DSTV.
For comments: manchishi@gmail.com