Family, politicians battle over "Brand Mandela"

[flowers]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/family-politicians-battle-over-quot-brand-mandela-quot-110444682.html

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - From political posters to bottles of wine and kitchen aprons, the face and name of Nelson Mandela are a potent commercial and political brand in South Africa. Little wonder it's so sought after - and the source of occasional squabbles.

Following his death on Thursday at the age of 95, the scramble for control of the Mandela legacy - both financial and moral - will involve his family, the ruling African National Congress (ANC), and the Nelson Mandela Foundation he set up to protect his broader message.

At stake is the inheritance that will go to Mandela's more than 30 children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, some of whom already use the Mandela name and image to market everything from clothing to reality TV.

There are also the Mandela brands and trademarks that help fund the Foundation. And for the ANC, Mandela's reputation as an anti-apartheid hero is worth votes for years to come.

There are no available public figures of Mandela's wealth, making it difficult to put an exact value on his estate, which includes an upscale house in Johannesburg, a modest dwelling in his rural Eastern Cape home province, and royalties from book sales including his autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom".

Several South African branding experts have declined to estimate the annual value of Mandela's trademark and brands.

Maintaining control over the copyrights is already a difficult business; protecting the Mandela brand may be even harder now that he is gone.

"The beauty of the Nelson Mandela brand is that it has been lived by him exactly as it has been presented by him. His behaviour is his brand," said Jeremy Sampson, the executive chairman of Interbrand Sampson de Villiers.

"In the rush to commercialize it, we run the risk of watering down or destroying the good that the brand stood for purely with the crassness of finance," he added.

"GOOD LORD"

Mandela divided the management of his legacy between a series of trusts to handle his finances and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, which serves as custodian of his wider moral legacy.

In total, he set up about two dozen trusts, mostly to pay for the education of his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

It hasn't all been straight forward.

A legal tussle between Mandela's long-time friend, lawyer George Bizos, and two of Mandela's daughters became public this year as the daughters sought to have Bizos and other Mandela associates ousted from companies set up to sell his handprint for use in art and memorabilia.

According to an affidavit filed by Bizos and the others, the two daughters, Makaziwe Mandela and Zenani Dlamini, had been trying to gain control of the main Mandela Trust since 2005 and eventually became trustees without Mandela's knowledge.

Mandela became angry when he found out what the daughters had done, Bizos and the other associates said in the affidavit.

"Mr Mandela was shocked and used a common expression 'Good Lord!' He was most infuriated and wanted to know what had happened."

A portion of the revenue from the Foundation's 46664 clothing line - named after Mandela's prisoner number on Robben Island - and the artworks also goes to pay for family members' education, according to Bizos.

"The trust has adopted the procedure of requiring the applicant for money to furnish an invoice," Bizos said, adding that every request accompanied by proper paperwork has been granted.

You know behind closed doors that family is fighting its rear end off for the money payout!

[happyg]

[DCPatriot]

[Oceander]

[flowers]

Is that Freemans real twitter acct?

[happyg]

There are four or five Morgan Freeman accounts. This one is fake, but it's still funny. Here is his real account:

https://twitter.com/TheRealMorganF

[DCPatriot]

Interesting hearing President Obama speak today about how Mandela made him want to be a better man and how he owes so much to Mandela for inspiring him.. he claims to be deeply touched and admired Mandela's spirit and willingness to stick to his principles.. One of the things Mandela was clear about was his friendship with Castro, Arafat and Ghaddafy..


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153560774430720&set=a.130390470719.212689.882195719&type=1&theater

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We all know how Obama got rid of Ghadaffi.