Turns out wild elephants aren’t dazzled by celebrities. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the star of movie franchises like Conan, The Terminator and The Expendables found this the hard way when he was on safari in South Africa recently. The jeep the former governor of California was in was charged at by an elephant, forcing the driver to make a speedy retreat.
The jokes just write themselves
Footage of the tough movie star backing away from danger (when he normally runs towards it in movies) naturally has the Internet joke machine working overtime.
The ringing sound in your ears right now is that of cash registers opening and closing. Ka-ching!
Good for the tourism brand
The officials at South Africa’s Depart of Tourism must be doing backflips and cartwheels after all this “earned media” fell in their laps. The tourism market is a competitive one but nothing sets you apart from the herd like everyone knowing you gave a hard-boiled action hero the experience of a lifetime. You can’t put a price on that kind of publicity. The ringing sound in your ears right now is that of cash registers opening and closing. Ka-ching!
All in good fun
The action movie star himself seems to have taken the experience in stride. He even poked fun at himself and his entourage for perhaps wetting their pants in the face of danger. Schwarzenegger has also used the attention around the story of his encounter with the jumbo to highlight the importance of ending poaching and preserving the magnificent creatures for future generations.
Meanwhile, his fans on the continent have been poking fun at him in their own way.
