KUALA LUMPUR – Big Pharmacy says it is implementing internal crisis-management measures after a promotional video drew online backlash for disparaging the Indian community.
In a statement on its Facebook page today, the pharmacy’s management team said that it is aware of the “hurtful and offensive nature” of the advertisement, which shows an influencer scanning items at a counter with a drawn-on bindi on his forehead.
“We would like to extend our sincerest apologies for the recent insensitive promotional video on social media. We claim full responsibility for our lack of due diligence.
“The content in question goes against our values of diversity and inclusivity. We have already taken immediate steps to address this issue internally to ensure that such a situation does not happen again.”
Admitting that the advertisement was a “mistake,” the pharmacy chain pledged to treat the matter seriously, as well as expressed its commitment to learn from this incident and enhance its service for its customers.
“We will do better to ensure that our content is respectful, sensitive and representative of the vibrant cultures within our community.”
Earlier today, former Klang MP Charles Santiago urged for the influencer and production team behind the advertisement to issue a public apology as the video “reinforces existing misconception of ethnic Indians.”
“They want to make people laugh, but the whole point is they want to bring attention to different things by doing all kinds of stuff,” he said when contacted by Scoop.
Besides that, Sentosa assemblyman Gunaraj George told Scoop that the advertising agency and authorities should relook at guidelines for advertising material, whether for social media or media advertisements.
The video, which has since been removed, was posted on Instagram yesterday by an individual known as SongBill.
However, netizens took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share screen recordings of the video, with most users expressing their condemnation of the video. – October 27, 2023