Wrong Ndebele spellings in Coca-Cola Ads

After launching its "Share a Coke With a Friend" promotion, Delta Beverages lurched into a public relations nightmare as some consumers accused it of wrongly spelling Ndebele names on its products.

In the promotion, Coca-Cola products are inscribed with popular names, with most of them written in either Shona or Ndebele.

However, it is the spelling of Ndebele names that have caused a storm, with consumers accusing Delta of being contemptuous of their names, leading to spelling errors.

Some of the products were written Sokuluthe and Khetiwe, instead of Sukoluhle and Khethiwe, respectively.

An official at Delta, who preferred anonymity, castigated the anomaly, saying that should not happen because there are some Ndebele people employed by the company who should have been asked to look at the spellings. Delta corporate communications affairs manager Tsungie Matiure declined to comment on the matter.

"We cannot give any immediate information on what happened," she said yesterday.

"We have to first gather information from the production crew and get back to you."

This is the latest in a string of gaffes from corporates who routinely get Ndebele spellings wrong. Recently, some non-governmental organisations received public condemnation after they erected a billboard with wrong Ndebele spellings.