exploitation
In advertising one ‘must use whatever one can
to make whatever point one needs’. But are
children abused by this system?
A decision by the Olympic Bid to use the
photograph of an impoverished child in its ad
campaign has sparked a debate on the ethics of
using children in marketing. Jacquie Golding-
Duffy and Rehana Rossouw report
A debate on whether the use of children by
advertising agencies is considered to be
exploitation or not has been sparked by a six-
year-old Cape Town boy whose picture is used
as part of the Cape Town 2004 Olympic Bid’s
outdoor campaign.
Ricardo Adonis’s face is plastered on bus
shelters, buses and billboards across the
country as part of the Bid committee’s
campaign, spearheaded by Chikane Hunt
Lascaris.
Adonis, in the advertisement, is seen as
representative of those who will benefit the
most should Cape Town secure the bid to host
the Olympic Games. But last Thursday he was
still begging at robots a few hundred metres
from Cape Town’s Olympic Bid offices.
In the driving rain, the urchin was stationed
at his regular post near the entrance to Cape
Town’s Waterfront.
With a soft-drink can in his hand, he knocked
on countless car windows asking for “small
change please”.
Ironically, one of the drivers who donated a
couple of coins was driving a white Mercedes
Benz with the Olympic Bid’s logo.
Ricardo’s father Derek Adonis, who lives in
Manenberg, says Ricardo was only paid R250 for
his efforts and he thinks it reasonable to
demand a monthly stipend for as long as
Ricardo’s photograph is being used in the
campaign. The Bid committee says Adonis has
expressed unhappiness and the committee has
therefore renegotiated an agreement to ensure
an increased cash payment is made.
An article concerning the advertising campaign
appeared in the Olympic Bid’s official
magazine which featured Ricardo’s face on its
cover. The accompanying article incorrectly
referred to the boy as “a street child”,
adding that he was seen as “representative of
those who will benefit the most from bringing
the Games to Cape Town”.
Ricardo’s father vehemently denies that his
son is a street child. “He’s got a home, even
though it’s just a hokkie at the back of my
mother-in-law’s house. We told the people who
took his photo that he lives in Manenberg.”
Adonis, who is unemployed and occasionally
sells newspapers to earn money to feed his
wife and four children, is not really sure who
approached Ricardo to take his photograph.
“There was a woman called Tracy who said she
wanted his picture, but she never told me what
it was for.
“On the day she took Ricardo to have the
picture taken, they said a friend of mine
could go with, because they could see we were
scared to send him with strangers.
“They gave Ricardo R250, but my friend got R50
of that. I asked Ricardo what he wanted to do
with the money and he said he wanted a
television. I put some of my own money with
his and bought a TV for R330.”
Adonis says he only realised once the campaign
was launched that Ricardo’s photograph was
being used to advertise the Olympic Bid.
Friends told him they saw Ricardo’s face on a
bus shelter. Adonis says the photographer, (a
“Mr Bester” who he believes is the official
photographer of the Olympic Bid), said he
could get another R250 if he signed a
document. “I don’t know what they want me to
sign, I haven’t seen it yet. Maybe it’s a
contract.”
‘Mr Bester” is in actual fact, Dave Bester,
general manager for Chikane Hunt Lascaris in
Cape Town.
Bester denies the bulk of Adonis’s statements
which include the one-off payment and the fact
that he [the father] did not know that Ricardo
was to be used for the campaign.
According to Bester, the boy’s parents were
“fully informed” that the agency was planning
to use the photographs for the outdoor
campaign. The Bid committee also says it
consulted extensively with Ricardo’s parents
before selecting him as one of the faces in
the campaign.
A letter of agreement, however, still has to
be signed by Ricardo’s father.
“Although a letter of agreement has not yet
been signed by the father, it has been
discussed telephonically and agreed to
verbally.
“The conditions outlined in the letter is that
Ricardo’s photograph will be used in
advertising materials to promote the Olympic
Bid: On billboards, buses, bus shelters and
selected print advertising,” Bester said.
He adds that the picture has been used on
billboards, bus shelters and busses, but not
yet in print advertisements. The picture was,
however, used on the front cover of the
Olympic Bid’s official magazine.
Bester says the father received an “initial
payment of R250″ at the time the photographs
were taken. Once the agreement is signed,
another R250 will be paid, Bester said.
“This R500 payment is for the usage of the
material for one year. Should we use the
material again in 1997, Ricardo will benefit
from what we call royalty renewals. The Bid
company is also planning to initiate an
Education Trust valued at R5 000 for Ricardo,
because it is the best thing we can do for the
child and an opportunity for the Bid to
demonstrate its commitment to development,”
Bester said.
Adonis said he contacted Bid director Ncgonde
Balfour to ask for more money. He was told
President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop
Desmond Tutu didn’t get paid for assisting the
Bid. “How can they compare me to Mandela and
Tutu. They have money to feed their families,
I don’t,” Adonis said angrily.
The Bid argues Balfour’s discussions with
Adonis were to point out that Ricardo would
join a list of celebrities supportive of the
bid, like Tutu. “It is incorrect to infer that
Mr Balfour was trying to deny any financial
benefit to him,” the bid committee said,
adding that Balfour was instrumental in
advocating the creation of an education fund
for Ricardo.
Ricardo’s father says the boy does not beg
full-time but only when the family needs money
for food. Last Thursday’s stint in the rain
earned Ricardo R43 — more than adults get
when they beg.
Ricardo is in Sub A at Edendale Primary School
in Manenberg and only begs after the school
day ends. His two brothers, Jeremy (11) and
Danny-boy (14), also beg on the streets of
Cape Town.
The small boy with the long-lashed, soulful
eyes shrugged when the Mail & Guardian asked
him if he enjoyed begging.
“The only thing I don’t like is that sometimes
the older boys beat me up when they say I’m
begging on their spot,” said Ricardo. “We all
got our own places to stand, and this robot is
mine.”