Fast-food restaurant Nando’s came up with a “punchy” advertisement poster last week that was on high circulation on social media.

The poster, which came with the headline “We’re good at punchlines, not punches”, was obviously referring to the recent KFC punch-up. If there was any doubt that the advertisement was directed at their rival chicken-serving fast-food chain, the copy accompanying the headline would settle it.

It reads: “At Nando’s, we’re always about putting a smile on your face, instead of a fist. So for that, why not pop into our restaurant and enjoy our world-famous Peri-Peri chicken that packs a real, tasty punch.”

The Nando’s Malaysia Facebook account shows that the advertisement has already been shared over 3,500 times, and been commented on over 430 times.

Advertisements like that are nothing new, of course, with rival companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola, and Apple and BlackBerry having engaged in “advertising warfare” in the past.

But since we don’t see that all too often with Malaysian advertisements, we decided to ask the young people of Malaysia what they thought about campaigns like that, and whether they thought they were cool/creative, or mean/unnecessary.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, with most of our Tweeples saying they enjoyed such posters for their creativity:

@tcchip: They’re awesome! Spices up the competition a bit.

@MeganChng: i dont get the fuss. foreign companies been using this tactic for years – no surprise tht someone here is finally gutsy enough

@JRwennies: I’m actually hoping mcD would create an ad response to it as well.

@saroki19: let there be punch ups btwn Nandos & KFC,consumers shld
benefit

@muzieryn: they’re not actually “kicking” (their rivals when they’re down), more like poking fun, IMHO.

@iarrod: we need more AD WAR!! XD they’re fun to watch (eg PlayStation Move vs XBox Kinect & Apple vs Microsoft & Apple vs Blackberry)

@joonsunn: Would love to see more of these ads. Ads in Msia are so boring…

@badri_genesys4: there should be more restaurants joining this bandwagon, even the MAMAKS!! 🙂

@atreyustrange: I don’t mind yet I find it annoying when one says it’s being done elsewhere/UK/US. What? Which means we MUST copy?