Tag Archives: music videos

Cape Town makes music for FIFA 2014 World Cup, and Faul & Wad Ad’s ‘Changes’!

April 30, 2014

On Kfm yesterday morning presenter Ian Bredenkamp spoke about Cape Town’s role as film location, specifically referring to two music videos which have been produced in our beautiful city.

Coca Cola’s anthem for the Middle East for the 2014 soccer World Cup is really odd, entitled ‘The World is Ours’. The music video tells the story of three friends from Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia meeting up at the airport in Brazil, for the World Cup soccer, and having a good time getting to enjoy the vibe of the country. However, the video was shot in its entirety in Cape Town and surrounds, representing the ‘vibrant and colourful Brazilian landscape‘, according to the production company. The video starts off with a park with palms, and features the view from Signal Hill looking down onto Sea Point, Cape Town International, Bo-Kaap, dancing on the rooftop of a building in the city centre with Lion’s Head as a backdrop, street food stalls, and having fun on a beach (most likely to be Camps Bay). The production was by Silver Lining Pictures (in conjunction with Fortune Promoseven Cairo), and the post production was done by Searle Street Post, both from Cape Town. The anthem interpretation is vibey, and its tune catchy, much nicer than the FIFA official anthem by Pitbull. The Coca Cola Middle East music video achieved close to 2 million views on YouTube within 48 hours of being Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 21 – 23 March

March 23, 2014

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* American wine economist Mike Veseth writes that South Africa has a large production of wine, and should therefore be better known in the USA, given that our country’s wine production is 10% less than that of Chile, and 4 times larger than that of New Zealand. Part of the reason is that Americans do not know about our country and where it is, and therefore he describes our wines as ‘the invisible wine’! Lack of awareness of our country plus the re-emergence of our country’s wines at the same that the New World countries launched their wines internationally made it more difficult for South African wines to be noticed in the USA. Initially, our wine exporters suffered logistical problems, in a market ‘which is structurally difficult to penetrate‘ and faces strong competition, which added to the lower visibility in the USA.

* The MyCiTi Bus service has increased passenger numbers by 89% in the past four months, the City of Cape Town claims. More than 400000 ‘passenger journeys‘ in November 2013 increased to over 700000 by February this year, when the Hout Bay, Oranjezicht, Sea Point, Camps Bay, Dunoon, Melkbosstrand, and Century City routes were added. However, the growth in passenger numbers has not been without its problems, with applications to have the service stopped by the Golden Arrow bus company having been dismissed in court; and complaints have been received about overcrowding, timetable inaccuracy in the afternoons especially, and the MyConnect card. The timetable problems may have led to the City firing Lumen Technologies, the company which was contracted to control scheduling. The Atlantis, Khayelitsha, and Mitchell’s Plain routes will open this year in the next four months. The City has spent close to R5 billion on the service to date.

* South Africa has become a backdrop for music videos shot for some very well-known music stars. The most famous Continue reading →

Perrier brings burlesque sparkle to its prestige sparkling water

October 6, 2010

Dita von Teese is not as well known in South Africa as she is in Europe and in the USA, and it is difficult to describe her accurately, in being a vaudeville star, a well-dressed fashion leader, and a star in music videos. She has become the new face of Perrier.

Von Teese was born Heather Smart, and grew up loving the 1940’s cinema and classic retro-style, writes Wikipedia. She was particularly fond of actress Betty Gable. Her career started in a strip club, she has been in Playboy on numerous occasions, and is called the “Queen of Burlesque”, in having “put the tease back into striptease”! She has starred in porn movies, and has featured in music videos.

So unique and fashionable is her image and appeal that Perrier, the largest brand of natural sparkling water in the world, has signed Von Teese as the face for their ‘Paparazzi’ 2010 Limited Edition series, carrying her image on their distinctive green bottles and cans in 150 countries. Perrier is low in sodium, and is the most sparkling of sparkling waters.

In the past Perrier has used artists such as Andy Warhol, Savignac, Villemot and Kiraz in its ‘Paparazzi’ series. Von Teese expressed delight at the association with Perrier: “I love the mythical history of Perrier and the quintessentially French Aesthetic attitude. It is so chic, refreshing and classic. Perrier is all the things I aspire to be”.

One wonders what Perrier sees in Von Teese, to have chosen her as their brand ambassador for 2010?!

The new Perrier packs are for sale in Cape Town and Johannesburg, at R12 – R25, in stylish restaurants and outlets. The website www.perrierbydita.com is incredibly slow to open, and has an age restriction of 18 years, requiring one to type in one’s birthdate. It is beautifully shot, but its content is tedious and boring.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter @WhaleCottage