It’s just the nature of being South African; we love South African things. And the biggest thing to come out of South Africa since Charelize Theron and Pronto Condoms, is the Vuvuzela!
Previously the Vuvuzela was used in moderation at football games around South Africa, and thinking back to the football games I’ve seen on TV in South Africa, they weren’t all that intrusive. Regardless, the Vuvuzela was considered football paraphernalia, and was never heard at other sporting events.
Enter stage right the South Africa FIFA Football World Cup 2010. One little Vuvuzela’tjie was blown on TV and people opened their traps about it.
Have you ever noticed what happens when you honk at somebody in front of you who’s driving, in your opinion, too slowly? They slow down even more. That’s what I do anyway, and I think it a very South African reaction.
So, thank the thousands of people who complained about the Vuvuzela, for its phenomenal global explosion in popularity. Not only did moaning about it spur the Vuvuzela blowers on to greater decibels, but all the moaning generated extraordinary publicity / marketing for the Vuvuzela in a way only viral social media can, which caused a stampede of football watchers / fans / Mongolian hunter-gatherers to go out, buy one, and try it for themselves.
Not only has Vuvuzela been trending on Twitter since the World Cup started, but just about every traditional newspaper and media outlet have published an article about it.
People have started selling Vuvuzelas online, something that I’m sure has generated much more interest if not business. So much so that somebody asked if the Real Vuvuzela Would Please Stand Up, and, supposedly, it did – a church in one of South Africa’s provinces, Kwa-Zulu Natal, claimed that it had the right to the Vuvuzela.
Some purely fun / public service websites have also sprung up to give the poor souls out there, who don’t have access to Vuvuzelas, the much needed virtual experience of a Vuvuzela so as to not be left out in the noisy dark as to what it’s all about.
But you know you’ve really made it when you’ve been touched by YouTube. YouTube has stepped into the Vuvuzela fray with the most useful Vuvuzela-related innovation I have seen this far.
For a while, YouTube added this little football icon in the bottom right-hand corner next to the CC icon (only appeard on YouTube.com and not embedded videos), which you could click to overlay the Vuvuzela on any video you were watching.
Love it or hate it, the Vuvuzela is now world culture. Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!