Around 2005, a brief came in from Tastic. All they wanted a billboard, showing a plate of food, with a clever line. Every team in the building had a crack at it and the Client bombed everything, which included some really good ideas. 

Then the brief landed on our desk. 

It was winter, so we suggested to perforate the vinyl and pump steam through the holes, making it look like a hot, delicious plate of food. We presented. Client loved it. Then we had it costed and Client hated it. They did not want to part with an additional 150k. 

We were back to round after round of ideas being bombed. Nothing was as good as the steamy plate of food. Desperation soon set in, and things like, "We're about to lose this Client" started being thrown about. 

I suggested that we just put, "Yoo, yoo, yoo!" alongside the food, as a localised expression of appreciation and joy. Client Service/Account Management hated the idea so vehemently they refused to come to the presentation. They didn't want to be in the room when the Client fired the agency. 

Cut to the boardroom at Tiger Brands. My art director and I have the billboard, mounted on an a piece of A3 triplex, lying face down on the table in front of us. We give a short preamble and then turn the A3 over and slide toward the Client, there were three of them in the room. 

The main Client, Zin, I think her name was, stands up, slams both hands on the table, let's out a loud, "Yoh!" and disappears out of the boardroom, A3 billboard in hand. We sit there, waiting and sweating. 

Zin took the billboard on a road trip around the office. We could hear spurts of laughter erupting from wherever she went. After what felt like an eternity, she came back in, placed the billboard back on the table and said, "You fucking white boys; that's not how you spell yoo, yoo, yoo". 

Shaking and chuckling, she wrote the correct spelling down for us. 

The billboard went up across Joburg. 

I always wished that I had taken photos of the actual billboard. So, for shits and giggles, decided to recreate (more or less) what it could have looked like over 20 years ago.