SABC1 found itself at the centre of a social media storm after posting a promotional image riding the wave of Drake’s surprise Iceman album release, only to quietly delete it days later.
On 15 May, Canadian rapper Drake surprise-released three albums simultaneously: Iceman, Habibti and Maid of Honour. The Iceman project quickly dominated headlines and charts, including strong performance in South Africa with more than 405 000 reported first-day streams on some platforms.
South Africa’s public broadcaster, SABC1, jumped on the hype by posting a promotional image inspired by the Iceman album art: a rhinestone-gloved hand (inspired by Michael Jackson’s iconic crystal-covered glove) flashing a diamond-encrusted chain necklace.
The post aimed to capitalise on the buzz but sparked immediate and intense backlash.
Critics accused the channel of prioritising a foreign artist (Drake) while neglecting homegrown talent like Grammy winner Tyla, Black Coffee, Nasty C, Cassper Nyovest, the late AKA and several Amapiano stars.
Many among them also pointed out that TV licence fees from South African viewers, which are intended to fund the public broadcaster, should primarily support Mzansi’s music industry.
The backlash included thousands of critical comments and posts, with one complaint garnering more than 18 000 likes.
The SABC1 social media team deleted the post by Saturday, replacing it with a placeholder message. While the official account for Skeem Saam still had its post promoting the upcoming wedding of Pretty and Lehasa.
Defenders called it harmless, smart marketing, noting Drake’s massive local streams and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) ‘s past promotions of South African genres like Maskandi. But, ongoing frustrations about support for local entertainment drowned out most of the posts in support of the social media team’s decision.
Album cover trend unpacked
The Iceman cover follows the rapper’s history of highly meme-able and adaptable album covers. It references Michael Jackson’s famous glove (reportedly a high-value Swarovski piece) and ties into “icy” themes.
Social media managers at major companies (like KFC South Africa) quickly adopted the format as a low-effort, high-engagement template. Within hours of the release, brands created parody “album covers” by swapping elements (e.g. recolouring the glove with logos, adding products or mascots, or punny titles) to promote their offerings.
This mirrors a phenomenon from Drake’s 2021 Certified Lover Boy album, where the pregnant-emoji cover inspired widespread brand parodies. It has become a proven playbook for viral marketing: tapping into pop culture moments for relevance without heavy ad spend.
Even non-commercial entities joined in, such as the White House, which posted an edited version featuring a “MAGA” chain pendant (captioned “ICED OUT,” nodding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement), which drew its own backlash.
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