On 26 March 2020, South Africa went into a severe Level 5 Lockdown. With alcohol banned and bars closed, thousands of gigs were cancelled, leaving the country’s comedians deprived of an income. We sympathised. After all, we’ve been supporting comedians for 25 years and we weren’t allowed to earn an income either.

The Savanna Virtual Comedy Bar was born to support comedians and to give unrestricted laughter to a nation when they needed it the most. Comedians were paid to do stand-up comedy from their homes, as we weren’t allowed to leave them.

Our objectives were to create a platform for comedians that could a) provide them with income b)to entrench Savanna's crisp witty tone and light hearted perspective at a time when we couldn't advertise or sell product c) help the nation cope with traumatic times through humour.

The Savanna Virtual Comedy Bar started as a live YouTube show, where comedians would perform stand-up comedy as well as impromptu relevant discussions against our virtual backgrounds. Comedians called in via Zoom to the show to appear live, following that the combined feed was broadcast on YouTube. It then graduated to a partnership between Savanna and the global authority on comedy, Comedy Central. The result of the partnership was a 2 season fully-fledged TV show spectacular: Comedy Central Live @ the Savanna Virtual Comedy Bar. Comedians were recorded doing stand-up and comped into our virtual comedy bar, accompanied by animated illustrations by some of SA’s best artistic talent.

Savanna Cider is South Africa’s biggest and most-loved cider, and has a 25-year history of supporting comedy. It is a brand born and raised here and its platform #Siyavanna South Africa, means ‘we get you, we see you, we’re in the same Whatsapp group.’ The brand is well known for its humorous advertising and is always in need of fresh ideas that keep it relevant while building on its quirky and unapologetic brand character that made it one of South Africa’s most loved and iconic brands.This speaks directly to Savanna’s core target market, black males and females, 18 to 35.

#SavannaVirtualBar started as a lockdown hack to provide employment to comedians but evolved into a permanent platform that we can switch on and off, and that will sustain us during upcoming alcohol bans as the country braces for a third wave.

#SavannaVirtualBar started as a lockdown hack to provide employment to comedians but evolved into a permanent platform that we can switch on and off, and that will sustain us during upcoming alcohol bans as the country braces for a third wave.

Season 1 ran from 9 Apr 2020 for 8 weeks on the brand's social channels as a weekly live stream.

Season 2: We started our collaboration with Comedy Central and the show aired on the channel as well as our social channels from Nov 2020 for 8 weeks.

Season 3 is currently running on Comedy Central and our social channels.

To date we've had 1,664,604 Viewers and we've invested a total of R9m in the local comedy scene.

9m invested in comedy

800 hours of comedy filmed

1,7M combined PR average

35:1 ROI

1,664,604 Viewers

Over 90 comedians employed

Savanna exceeded its targets and is now the most equitable brand in the RTD category, outperforming international giants like Heineken.

#SavannaVirtualComedyBar is now a permanent fixture on Comedy central and a permanent platform for the brand to activate on during times of alcohol bans.

What’s more, we’ve allowed a nation to laugh through the most uncertain of times. If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry! –