filming of a world cup 2010 advertisement

I went to Long Street last night to go out for dinner... where, much to my surprise and delight, I stumbled upon the filming of an advertisement for the World Cup. It was insane. A huge chunk of Long Street was blocked off to allow for a giant float that said "Ayoba!" (a motto of the World Cup, and a popular phrase). On the float was a massive vuvuzela, and dancers dressed in colorful, sparkling, flashy outfits. All around the float were people dressed as clowns, dancers, giant puppets, confetti, flame dancers, flags, umbrellas, flares going off, girls hanging from trapezes.... not to mention the massive crowd lining both sides of the street, as well as the balconies of bordering bars and restaurants.

The main float. Ayoba! is a phrase popular throughout South Africa. As far as I can tell, it just means "cool!" or "sweet!" or something along those lines... but it seems to be one of those words you can use for just about anything. It has become associated with World Cup 2010. During the filming, a man would blare out a tune with a vuvuzela, and then everyone would yell "AYOBA!" ...that repeated continuously throughout each take.

I'm not sure whether this giant puppet is supposed to be a particular person... but if so, I have no idea who it is.


Floats, dancers, clowns, confetti, flares... Color everywhere, people yelling and dancing all over the place... Long Street was also lit up almost end to end with huge flood lights.

You can see the man blowing the vuvuzela from his throne on the float - Top right. He must have excellent lung capacity; he kept it up from start to finish. Also, notice all the people lined up on the balcony in the background with World Cup attire. Not to mention the chaos in the foreground.

I was standing right at the front of the sidewalk, watching all this happen. I'm not sure what they were filming specifically for, but it looked like it would be part of a commercial or some kind of ad for 2010. Look for me on TV... AYOBA!!!