Textappeal Blog

The news:

Beyonce’s planned performance in Malaysia, part of her world tour, may be cancelled due to Malaysia’s opposition Islamist party protesting against the singer’s show. They succeeded two years ago in preventing her from visiting due to “moral issues”. The group claims that such unclad acts promote sexual promiscuousness and are a bad example for the nation’s youth. It is not just Beyonce that has spurred protest from the group but also other Western artists, who in some cases have adjusted by wearing more clothes than usual on stage. Judge for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/user/beyonce?blend=1&ob=4.

Behind the news:

Beyonce does not seem to wish to adapt her act to local demands, or be seen as caving in to a minority group in one country. And why should she? It is her career and her life. But that’s not the point.

The point is: in order not to become the hostage of circumstances outside of their control, international brands need to look carefully how they associate themselves with pop icons, and stay particularly close to the pulse of markets with fast shifting, competing internal values. 

Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country in which parts of the population object strongly to sexual suggestiveness. There is also national sensitivity, as it appeared a few years ago when the prime minister at the time banned a Toyota commercial using Brad Pitt as the pitchman, on the grounds that “Malaysians are just as handsome as Westerners.” Local political and religious groups take advantage of such sentiments for all kinds of reasons.

“Rejection reactions” such as this one is harmful to Malaysia economically, as a significant part of its activity depends on tourism, and portraying a consistently welcoming face to the rest of the world is important in attracting foreign dollars. However they also reflect a genuine internal reality of the country, where competing and contradictory values co-exist.

The news:

Sony’s commercial has caused uproar in Nigeria, with official complaints that it portrays a negative image of the nation, suggesting Nigerians are untrustworthy and prone to partake in criminal activity. During the ad one of the actors states that “you can’t believe everything that you read on the Internet” or he’d be a “Nigerian millionaire by now”. The Nigerian federal government claimed that by releasing such a statement Sony is ruining the country’s image. Sony apologised and edited the ad accordingly, changing the phrase to exclude Nigeria completely from the ad.

The Nigerian federation has also bashed the new and very successful sci-fi blockbuster film ‘District 9’. It includes a Nigerian gang of criminals, gangsters, prostitutes and cannibals, using the name of the former president as that of the gang leader. The suggestion of such negative associations with the population and particularly the idea of cannibalism have caused the film to be banned in the country and a letter has been sent to the production company asking that the scenes containing Nigerian references are deleted.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDGG9e00XPk

Behind the news:

What is particularly jarring to African sensitivities is the use of cannibalism – a long standing Western colonial myth perpetrated to reinforce the perception that Africans are inferior and perhaps subhuman.

Nigeria is currently attempting to counter negative stereotypes by rebranding the country as a good place to come and do business. Sony’s extreme portrayals come at a bad time for the nation.

While gangster films do need to be set somewhere – and why not Nigeria after all? – the Sony global brand unintentionally put itself in a lose-lose situation. Nigeria’s already fragile image is damaged further, and Sony alienates consumers across the emerging African continent.  

To its credit Sony immediately recognised this and quickly shifted into PR damage mode. A simple recheck on the core message may have avoided much grief and harm.  

The news:

The senior operations director for tourism agency Visit Denmark stepped down after a promotional video made to encourage international tourists to visit Denmark was released online and then criticised heavily by the media. The video tells the story of an attractive new mother whose baby is the product of a drunken one-night stand with a foreign tourist. She is in search of the baby’s father due to the fact that she is unable to remember his name or nationality because she had been too intoxicated. The video has caused backlash, as it is perceived to send out a negative message about the nation, unprotected sex and promote promiscuousness.

Watch on http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8258473.stm

Behind the news:

We can’t believe the people behind this video set out to put Denmark on the map as a sex haven: the prime place in the world where promiscuous foreign men will enjoy free sex with loose local women. Denmark is one of the most respectful countries in the world of women’s rights, and is a strict enforcer of equality in all areas of public and private life.

This is an inside cultural joke gone horribly wrong. In Scandinavian countries such as Denmark, making fun of oneself and one’s image is very common in advertising, and seen as a stylish, ironic way to avoid a direct “hard sell”. Some Scandinavian commercials use this cultural trait, and say exactly the opposite of what they mean in order to gain sympathy.

Visit Denmark probably means to convey something like “yes, we know you think Denmark is all about loose sex, and we don’t mind to poke fun at ourselves and even darken the picture. And that’s what we’re all about and why you should come: we’re unpretentious, fun, relaxed.”

A classic instance of “export marketing” gone wrong: not taking global perception into account, using an inside cultural reference as a global message, being misunderstood and instead of getting people’s sympathy, reinforcing the worst possible stereotypes of your brand.