SA's most loved rugby supporter

Cellphone company’s ‘Elton and Jan’ commercial proves a massive score with rugby supporters



Forget Merlin and Malcolm, meet Elton and Jan. The stars of Vodacom’s Player 23 rugby advert have become so well known that it has changed their lives.

Ironically, though, their nationwide celebrity kicked off pretty inauspiciously.

Cape Town comedian Malcolm Ferreira, who plays Jan, thought it was a prank when an advertising agency asked him to send a picture of himself “topless” to get a role in a Vodacom advert.

He eventually sent the picture and a few weeks later landed the role of South Africa’s most loved rugby supporter.

Ferreira said this week the agency approached him after seeing his rip-off music video — as rapper Koolerbox, the Afrikaner version of US rapper Eminem — on YouTube.

Actor Merlin Balie, on the other hand, was just following his agent’s orders when he auditioned for the part of Elton in May.

Balie said he had been told the first Vodacom ad had been popular, but had had no idea how successful it would be when he auditioned.

“For the audition, I had to act out three scenes ... I didn’t realise that the ad would be this big,” he said.

But from inauspicious beginnings have come big things.

Balie and Ferreira agree that their popularity has reached the point where they can’t walk down the street without being stopped by rugby-mad fans who refer to them by their character names.

Ferreira, who has been a stand-up comic for about eight years, has had some bizarre run-ins with rugby fans.

“After the Super 14 game between the Vodacom Bulls and the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld (in March), one supporter invited me to his braai and told me that if I went, then I could go out on a date with his sister,” Ferreira said.

He has also been asked to sign a woman’s breasts — “that was an experience I think will take me time to forget” — and a man’s chest.

“Signing his man boob was hysterical. That is when I realised that supporters really love Jan,” said Ferreira.

Balie has not experienced the weird side of his fame. He is still enjoying being asked to pose for photographs and give autographs.

“There was a time when people could only recognise me when I was wearing my Springbok jersey, but now they spot me regardless of what I’m wearing,” he said.

Balie also admitted that he liked it when fans called him Elton.

“There is one supporter who stopped me and said, ‘Hey, Elton, vat ’n foto met my laaitie,’ and that is when I realised that people are really starting to notice me.”

Both Ferreira and Balie said filming the ads had been interesting. The first one — where he appears without Balie — literally made a big impression, Ferreira quipped.

“In the scene I high fived all the players and left Bakkies (Botha) hanging. He then decided to give me a pat on my stomach. My stomach only stopped wobbling after about four days. His handprint lasted for about a week. Those rugby players are strong.”

Balie — a veteran of 15 ads — said he realised how big the Vodacom ad was going to be when he saw the screen shots.

“I didn’t think it was funny while we were shooting the scenes, but it was when the director called me to look at the screen shots that I laughed and realised how good it was.”

Ferreira said the hype has boosted his profile and he has been getting more calls to do stand-up comedy.

Balie, who played bad guy Werner in soapie 7de Laan in 2005, believes the ad will lead to more TV work for him.

And in a case of life imitating art, Elton and Jan have struck up a real-life friendship.

Balie said the two call each other to try to meet up at rugby games.

“I love rugby, and I’m from Cape Town. So the Stormers are my team,” said Balie.