Culture shift: The Mzansi brands that actually got our culture right this Heritage Month
And just like that, September is packing its bags. We’ve survived the annual office Heritage Day dress-up, shouted across the table about the correct way to cook meat, and accepted that public holidays on a Tuesday are a form of emotional torture.
But while we were busy getting on with September, local brands were working overtime. Let’s be honest: corporate Heritage Month campaigns can sometimes be a slightly awkward mix of clip-art proteas, random beadwork graphics and a generic “Happy Heritage Day from our synergy to yours!” post.
Not these guys, though.
This year, a few brands actually understood the assignment. They found stories in the things South Africans eat, share, remember, laugh about and argue over. From giant food installations and family memories to African time and cooking outside your culture, these campaigns gave Heritage Month a little more personality.
Here are some of the brands that joined the cultural conversation and gave us something worth talking
Nando’s
Gemere and PERi-PERi
Nando’s took a familiar South African favourite, gemere, and turned it into a limited-edition Heritage Month flavour, with the campaign bringing in local “Aunties” to taste and rate it. From lobola jokes to memories of making gemere at home, the campaign leaned into the kind of cultural references South Africans instantly recognise.
Sunlight
What happens when you cook outside your culture?
Sunlight challenged South Africans to step outside their usual kitchens and cook dishes from other cultures. The #CookOutsideYourCulture campaign turned food into an invitation to share recipes, stories and a little curiosity.
Takealot
When Takealot started speaking our language
Takealot gave its familiar delivery boxes a Heritage Month makeover by translating its name into versions inspired by South Africa’s 12 official languages. The campaign also brought in artist Muzi to celebrate local sounds including lekompo, Maskandi, Kwaito and Cape Town hip hop, making the humble delivery box part of the cultural conversation.
Woolworths × Thebe Magugu
When heritage gets a modern wardrobe
Woolworths teamed up with South African designer Thebe Magugu for Lineage, a fashion and fragrance collaboration inspired by the stories, traditions and visual languages that shape South Africa.
Launched in three drops during September, the collection plays with the idea that heritage can evolve with us rather than simply sit in the past.
MaXhosa Africa
When South African heritage took centre stage in Paris
MaXhosa Africa took its Xhosa-inspired design language to Paris Fashion Week, putting South African heritage firmly into a global fashion conversation.
With a live performance by Sjava and accessories made from upcycled waste, the show brought together culture, contemporary design and a distinctly South African point of view.
Vaseline
The campaign that kept the culture conversation going
Vaseline’s Mntana ka Gogo campaign may have launched in 2025, but its very South African story still feels right at home in Heritage Month 2026.
From the familiar Gogo ritual to the line “Some traditions aren’t passed down, they’re rubbed in”, it captured a childhood memory many South Africans will recognise instantly.
