What does Max Maeder make of all the brands trendjacking his win?

Kitefoiler Max Maeder flew to Paris as an ambitious athlete, and returned home to Singapore an Olympian, with a bronze medal around his neck. His accomplishment is one shared across citizens of Singapore, with brands and citizens alike showering him with support and congratulations after winning a medal.

In fact, Singaporean banking giant DBS saw Maeder's potential even prior to the Olympics, having launched a campaign before the global sporting event started.

After his win, the bank hijacked its own campaign to congratulate Maeder.  The ad appeared on the front page of The Straits Times on August 10, one day after Maeder's win. In it, DBS changed to its “Trust your Spark” tagline to read, "Trust your spark. To the Max, Singapore."

Don’t miss: DBS hijacks own tagline with Max Maeder win in front page newspaper ad 

In a fireside session with DBS and members of the press, Maeder said he was “blown away” by the degree of celebration and emotion from the fans, brands and public in Singapore following his success. 

“I was completely blown away. It put a smile on my face, really, it did,” said Maeder. 

DBS is not the only brand to have trendjacked Maeder’s win. Local brands such as SingTel and Pizza Hut also put out creative social posts to congratulate him.

Meanwhile NTUC FairPrice took the opportunity to shout out their own products. In its trendjack post, the grocery store said “Ever since Max Maeder did Singapore proud and won that medal, we can’t stop spotting ‘Max’ around out stores and online”.  Accompanying the social post are images of Ensure max protein nutrition shake, Colgate max white and Max’s farm original cassava chips. 

When asked if he’s seen the trendjacking posts, Maeder said he’s seen Pizza Hut’s post, shared by his father. To the post Maeder said, “The foil cutting the pizza image is quite funny.” 

On top of that, Maeder said he uses social media to interact with fans and respond to the congratulations posts he’s received. 

“I just answered some questions on social media, but the thing I get most emotional about so far, is when people come up to me and saying ‘Thank you’ or ‘Congratulations’. All I can express in the small moments of time that we have together is - ‘Thank you’. I’m really grateful,” said Maeder. 

Admittedly, the athlete Googles himself too. 

“I would be very guilty if I said I never did it at all, but the main reason why is so that anytime my parents asked me a question about how that interview went, I have an answer because I forget some key details after an interview has happened,” said Maeder.

“So when I do google myself, it's to give an accurate answer,” added Maeder. 

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Local brands jump on Max Maeder Olympic win with creative social posts 
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DBS CEO interviews SG kitefoiler ahead of Paris Olympics