Forget the script! Nando’s surrounded Siya Kolisi with 7 hilarious South Africans, let the cameras roll and created something entertaining.
If you only have a minute, read this: Nando’s new Siya Kolisi advert is hilarious, but behind the scenes, it was chaos! Just 13 days to prepare, three and a half hours to film and a director who dropped out. Mike Sharman and his Retroviral team pulled it off by surrounding Siya with seven hilarious South Africans and letting the magic happen. A lekker celebration of South African creativity!
Western Cape, South Africa (03 November 2026) – There are few things South Africans love more than rugby, a proper Dezemba, a good laugh and a Nando’s advert. So when the country’s favourite chicken brand teamed up with our double Rugby World Cup-winning captain, Siya Kolisi, it was always going to be entertaining.
But what audiences probably don’t realise is just how much chaos went into creating the new Siya Sauce campaign. From impossible deadlines to last-minute production changes, the story behind the advert is almost as entertaining as the finished product. Our good friend Mike Sharman, founder and chief creative officer of Retroviral, the agency behind the campaign, gave Good Things Guy an exclusive look at what happened behind the scenes. And it all started with a rather ridiculous deadline.
“On the 13th of May, we received confirmation that Siya would be available on the 26th (of May). 13 days to conceptualise, write, cast, produce and shoot. Five hours of access to Siya. In reality, three and a half hours of filming time,” Mike explains.
Rather than follow the traditional celebrity advertising formula, Mike and his team decided to do something different. They created a sitcom-style Nando’s restaurant filled with South African comedians and let Siya react to whatever happened around him. The cast included Siv Ngesi, Sobantu Nqayi, Ray Malo, Vafa Naraghi, Nina Hastie, Jam Jam and Anton Taylor, each bringing their own personality and humour to the campaign.
“Instead of scripting the celebrity, we would script the world around him,” Mike explains.
“The objective wasn’t to make Siya responsible for delivering punchlines. It was to surround him with enough comedic talent and controlled real-world situations to react to.”
The performers were encouraged to improvise, while Siya was told to respond naturally rather than worry about delivering scripted jokes. It was an approach that Nando’s embraced wholeheartedly.
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But just when everything seemed to be coming together, the director withdrew from the project a week before filming. With no time to find a replacement, Mike decided to direct the advert himself, supported by executive creative director Koketso Masisi, executive producer Kate Goliath and her production team, and director of photography Dale Fortune.
“The day was an addictive blur. Three takes max for most setups. Minimal overthinking. Maximum trust in the performers. And, crucially, the freedom to capture moments that weren’t necessarily written down.”
Somehow, in just three and a half hours of filming with Siya, the team captured enough material for a two-and-a-half-minute main advert and several shorter versions for different platforms.
For Mike, the experience was a reminder of what happens when talented people trust each other and aren’t afraid to take creative risks.
“Creative bravery isn’t a line on a PowerPoint slide. It’s what happens when circumstances aren’t ideal and you still choose to pursue an interesting idea.”
Oh, we know we’ve focused a lot on the ad here… but there is also the product, and the Springbok captain didn’t just lend his famous face to the campaign. He helped develop the flavour profiles of the limited-edition Siya Sauce. So you can now share Siya’s favourite Nando’s sauce, made by Siya himself!
Watch the advert below:
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