There’s one final post we have to make about the Book Fair, which was all a long time ago now, and that’s to mention the amazing Laugh it Off from South Africa. Justin Nurse from Laugh it Off dropped by our stand (after hearing about us from Michelle of Oshun) to tell us all about himself.

Justin makes stunningly good, Adbusters-style anti-ads, detourning the presentations of South African and international companies to great effect – the above example uses Avis car hire to satirise SA’s continued reliance on underpaid black labour to support white affluence, while others poke fun and a little more in the direction of both big business (Johnny Walker takes a tumble in the ‘Keep Drinking’ ads) and youth apathy (Mtv and ‘eMpty’s Stoner of the Year’ award). He also publishes a regular zine with mini-campaigns, such as the anti-fashion ‘Fascionism! For Successful Cloning’ based on the Diesel campaigns, and a selection of poetry and other books.

In 2002, he fought a hard fight with SAB Miller, the massive South African conglomerate which owns Castle Lager and brews a host of international beers in SA, over a T-Shirt Laugh it Off produced based on the Carling Black Label logo. “White Guilt: Black Labour” didn’t go down too well with the suits, and it went all the way to the High Court before Justin won the right to satirise (read the full story in press clippings [pdf]). Naomi Klein, of No Logo fame, commented that the SAB case was the most important yet regarding the rights of corporation ownership versus the right to individual freedom of expression.

Laugh it Off is, in Justin’s estimation, pretty much the only outfit of its kind in SA (and, therefore, by extension, Africa). That is, in a media culture still relatively unquestioning when it comes to brand consumption, the only outfit opposing globalisation with the tactics that have arguably made the most impact elsewhere: good ideas and headline-grabbing stunts, well executed. As one of the commentators on the SAB feud noted, when the G8 came to Durban a few years back, an event that, on other occasions, prompted thousands and thousands to take to the streets in Seattle and elsewhere, a mere 200 turned out to protest – yet Africa is the place most affected and most likely to be affected, one way or the other, by the G8′s global policies. If Laugh it Off can do something to stir up some action, it’ll have a huge effect on a still-young nation.

Justin was at the Book Fair in search of European distribution for his work, most of it international and just as recognisable over here as south of the Equator – and European sales would, we’re sure, provide a huge boost to the business, which Justin descibes as “a social organisation run on business lines”. Serpent’s Tail, among others, turned him down, but if there’s anyone else out there who’d be interested in putting out some excellent quality political satire that’s damn funny with it, let him know.