Beauty brand blurs actress' face in ad after controversy, accidentally goes viral

Malaysian beauty brand Kitsui recently saw mentions of its brand peak and other brands producing parodies of it after it blurred the face of Malaysian actress Ruhainies in one of its ads, according to media intelligence firm CARMA. This came after Ruhainies was arrested in Malaysia alongside Singaporean actor Aliff Aziz for allegedly being in khalwat (close proximity).

The ad by Kitsui, which sells slimming beverages, features singer Wany Hasrita and actor Hisyam Hamid. In the ad, the three celebrities wish consumers well as they break fast during the Ramadan season. While holding the brand's slimming drink, they also say that changes should not happen only on the outside, but on the inside too.

In the ad, which was posted a day ago, Ruhainies' face is blurred out though her name was left uncensored along with text that said she is an actress and well-known personality.

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In the caption of the post, Kitsui said that it would like to ask for "forgiveness" for any confusion that might have resulted from its post on Ruhainies. It explained that she, along with Hasrita and Hamid, were chosen after "through research" that was conducted in October 2023 and that the campaign was shot in December 2023.

It added that it does not support any of the actions of Ruhainies and that it hoped that the incident would not affect the commercial.

Kitsui was referencing an incident on March 9 where Ruhainies and Aziz were arrested by Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) officers after they were seen alone together at Ruhainies’ home in Kuala Lumpur.

As a result, Aziz's wife, Bella Astillah told reporters outside the Syariah Lower Court in KL on March 13 that she would be divorcing Aziz, according to The Star.

While the act of blurring Ruhainies' face in the ad at that point seemed like a genuine attempt by Kitsui to distance itself from the scandal and to preserve its commercial assets, it seems to have an unintended effect, causing mentions of its brand to skyrocket.

CARMA also said that interestingly, the campaign itself brought more attention to Ruhainies and news of her arrest.

“Influencer campaigns don’t just impact the brand, but sometimes they also bring attention to the influencer themselves,” said Divika Jethmal, head of marketing Asia at CARMA

True enough, since Kitsui put up the ad, many other brands have taken to Instagram to trendjack the post including auto repair shop GC Grounding Auto, frozen yogurt chain Llao Llao and retail brand Mydin Malaysia.

So, was this a good move for the brand in the end? According to Jose Raymond, managing director at SW Strategies, it was certainly an unorthodox move and that sometimes, a strategy works simply because it is funny and creates virality.

“I mean, we will never know what the brand’s intentions were till they say something. But when you spend thousands on a campaign, to have to suddenly pull the plug with no recourse is a huge waste. Kitsui probably felt it was best to just run it and hope for the best,” said Raymond.

He added that if the brand’s goal was to get attention, it certainly achieved that objective as more people are talking about it than ever.

Additionally, as Jude Foo, general manager and partner at Nine:TwentyEight  explained, from a technicality standpoint, the actress in question is part of an ad featuring a range of artistes or influencers so it would be a bit harder to ‘remove’ her properly.

"However, it’s not impossible with some proper DI work and that’s where the brand can do better verses doing something slipshod," he said, adding that if the key message is that the drink can help with change on the outside by enhancing change from the inside then this whole episode "made it worse" because she clearly looks "horrible" now on the outside.

Adding to his point, Ambrish Chaudhry, head of strategy at Design Bridge and Partners explained that what seems to have happened here is a mix of both strategies.

“It’s a brand trying to disassociate itself and at the same time ride on the controversy and conversation around it. An attempt to have their cake and eat it too,” he said.

“The best marketing campaigns are truly the unexpected ones.”

Chaudhry added that keeping the name and burring out the picture of the ambassador shows “confusion in the ranks” and “poor decision making” by someone high up the pecking order with not enough understanding of marketing nuance and customer sentiments.

He explained that brand ambassadors bring a lot of positive aspects to a brand - greater awareness, signalling of quality and image associations.

“They do however come with a certain set of risks as well. At the end of the day ambassadors are human and inherently unpredictable,” he said, added that in situations where a brand ambassador gets embroiled in controversy brands have two options.

“Either stick by the ambassador and come out in their support. Or discretely end their association with the ambassador and take the loss. What it comes down to, is how egregious the controversy is and what it says about the brand’s own values and beliefs,” he said.

Taking the L

Before the ad campaign, conversations on social media about Kitsui were 17.6% positive and 44.1% negative. After the incident, sentiments of social conversations were 8% positive and 38.2% negative, indicating a mixed reaction with netizens regarding the campaign. Essentially, it was not a total failure, according to Charu Srivastava, co-founder, chief strategy officer and corporate affairs lead at TriOn & Co.

“It is almost a hilarious case of knowingly courting controversy and issuing an apology simultaneously. Even if consumers didn’t make the connection, the brand itself keeps drawing attention to the fact and the potential issue,” she said.

Referencing learning points for other brands from the incident, Srivastava explained that as painful as it may be, it is best to shelve such influencer partnerships.

“The recent issues faced by brands like Zara clearly show that sometimes it is best to ditch planned campaigns in face of clear negative outcomes at time of execution,” she said.

Srivastava was referncing a recent blunder by fashion retailer Zara after it released a new ad campaign that had striking resemblances to scenes coming out of the ongoing war between Gaza and Israel in December last year.

In response to backlash, Zara issued an apology at the time stating: "The campaign, that was conceived in July and photographed in September, presents a series of unfinished sculptures in a sculptor’s studio and was created with the sole purpose of showcasing craft made garments in an artistic context."

Srivastava explained that it takes years for brands to build consumer trust and loyalty but it takes one mistake to lose it all.

The rebuilding of this trust and loyalty can then take much longer as consumers today are a lot more discerning and hold brands accountable for their actions.

She added that it is better for a brand to bear a financial loss (if any) of terminating an influencer partnership or shelving a controversial or misaligned campaign than losing consumer trust and loyalty.

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