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Mitsubishi Motors South Africa (MMSA) has launched a touching, multi-brand TV commercial, inspired by Mitsubishi’s
involvement with the Jane Goodall Chimpanzee Eden Sanctuary in Mpumalanga.
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At the beginning of the commercial the mother chimpanzee is found in a typical African bush meat market; setting off a
mad rush to find her baby before being shipped off to a life of captivity or worse.
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Matthew, a young game ranger receives a call on his satellite phone informing him that the mother chimpanzee has been
found, but the juvenile has been taken. He hurriedly packs up the phone, jumps into a Mitsubishi Triton and races off
to Malawane Junction to pick up the female chimpanzee. The commercial then cuts to the Mitsubishi Pajero winding its
way through a busy African market as the hero looks for information about the baby chimp.
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The shot that follows features the Mitsubishi Lancer, driven by Lisa the Vet. She is on her way to the Chimp Sanctuary
to meet Matthew, who is about to arrive with the mother chimp.
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To add an element of danger to the story, the next scene of the advert features the Mitsubishi Outlander racing through
a filthy, wreck-strewn African harbour. The scene features the Greenpeace couple looking for the young chimp. They are
seen keeping their eye on a ship that had been loaded when they receive a call to tell them that the chimp had been kept
in a warehouse on the west pier and eventually they manage to save the chimp.
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Chimps are in danger
According to the WWF (formerly World Wildlife Fund), Africa's chimpanzee population continues to decline in Equatorial
Africa and populations are no longer found in Gambia, Burkina Faso, Benin, and possibly in Togo, while they have been
severely reduced in numbers in Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Burundi and Rwanda. Senegal, Mali, the Cabinda enclave of
Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and Sudan contain small, dispersed populations that are seriously at risk.
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The wild population of Chimpanzees is widely estimated, ranging from 172 700 to 299 700 individuals. The largest
remaining populations occur in central Africa, mainly Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Cameroon. A recent
WWF survey suggests that Côte d’Ivoire also has substantial numbers of chimpanzees.
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Chimp-friendly ad
The making of the commercial was recorded over two days in the forests of Mount Sheba, Mpumalanga, and two days in Maputo,
Mozambique. No live chimps were used in the making of the advertisement. The chimp rescue footage that was used was from a
library at the JGI Chimp Eden, and a model chimp, called Robert, was used to create the impression that there was one in the
cage.
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Click here to view the commercial.
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