P.S. invites South Africans to ‘speak yo soul'

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Using the hot and happening format of slam poetry to attract the interest of the fast-moving youth market, Cadbury South Africa and P.S. are running a promotion that gives two friends the opportunity to win a trip to the USA to experience the World Poetry Slam live*. A second, supporting promotion, which will be run regionally in Gauteng for six weeks on Yfm, will offer aspiring wordsmiths a taste of fame by taking their words to the stage alongside actress, poet and local celebrity Lebo Mashile, and competing for R20 000 cash.

Slam poetry, which can best be described as the art of performance poetry, has taken the youth market by storm in South Africa, encouraging this stereotypically-sullen sector of the community to expose and express itself through words. Informal and formal sessions have sprung up at fashionable venues around the country, giving birth to local celebrities such as Lebo Mashile, Tumi from Tumi and the Volume and Ntisiki Mazwai.

“Slam poetry is a perfect fit for the P.S. brand, which has become one of the top chocolate bars in South Africa precisely because of its ability to help its core teens market find the perfect words for every occasion to help them express themselves,” explains Cadbury South Africa Chocolate marketing director Mike Middleton.

He adds, of course, that its popularity is based on more than words. It's the combination of a caring, sincere message with a deliciously sweet chocolate bar. The perfect everyday gift.

How it all works

The mechanics of the promotion are simple. It consists of two separate competitions running side-by-side. The first, an on-pack promotion, simply requires entrants to SMS the unique P.S. code inside their wrapper to the number provided, to put them in line to win the trip for two to the USA worth a whopping R100 000.

The promotion will run until the end of December 2008 across both the Caramilk and Dairy Milk P.S. variants, and will be supported by strong in-store displays, appropriately fast-talking radio spots and an interactive promotion through popular youth site MXIT.

The second competition, which is being run in conjunction with Yfm, invites potential slammers to put their original writing and execution to the ultimate test, to stand the chance of winning fame, glory and R20 000.

The Yfm competition will run over six weeks, during which time twelve potential poets selected from emailed entries will give voice to their souls live on-air. Listeners will be invited to vote for the top six, who will then perform live on-stage at an exclusive event alongside Lebo Mashile and compete for R20 000 cash and the honour of being named Cadbury South Africa P.S.'s Slam Poet of the Year.

The winners of both competitions will be announced in January 2009.

P.S.... See www.cadbury.co.za for more details.

* terms and conditions apply