The phony sign language interpreter from Nelson Mandela's memorial service now stars in an ad for the Israeli streaming app Livelens.
In the spot above, Thamsanqa Jantjie apologizes for "what I did" and shows that he'll redeem himself by entertaining viewers as a pitchman who's showered with money. He then introduces the app, which enables users to live-stream footage to friends.
"Remember, the most interesting things happen live," he says in the wacky footage, which includes his head seemingly transposed on a shirtless man riding a horse.
Jantjie, if you'll recall, was hospitalized in Johannesburg after declaring mental illness led to his signing debacle. But according to BetaBeat, he was able to leave the ward for a day to complete the shoot by telling administrators he had to attend a family ceremony. He always wanted to be an actor, he said to the site.
But why would a new product want a spokesman who created an international embarrassment?
"We needed something surprising," Sefi Shaked of Livelens said, according to the New York Daily News. “We wanted to choose a presenter who is the worst presenter for a live app possible; you know, the person who did the worst screw up on live TV — ever."
In the spot above, Thamsanqa Jantjie apologizes for "what I did" and shows that he'll redeem himself by entertaining viewers as a pitchman who's showered with money. He then introduces the app, which enables users to live-stream footage to friends.
"Remember, the most interesting things happen live," he says in the wacky footage, which includes his head seemingly transposed on a shirtless man riding a horse.
Jantjie, if you'll recall, was hospitalized in Johannesburg after declaring mental illness led to his signing debacle. But according to BetaBeat, he was able to leave the ward for a day to complete the shoot by telling administrators he had to attend a family ceremony. He always wanted to be an actor, he said to the site.
But why would a new product want a spokesman who created an international embarrassment?
"We needed something surprising," Sefi Shaked of Livelens said, according to the New York Daily News. “We wanted to choose a presenter who is the worst presenter for a live app possible; you know, the person who did the worst screw up on live TV — ever."