AEON MY's spicy roast of McCormick conversation garners brand buzz

AEON Retail Malaysia has impressed netizens with its trendjacking on a viral video posted by a consumer claiming McCormick contains pork in its spice products. In a Facebook post, the brand posted an image of McCormick's Mixed Spice on its Facebook, with a caption that read, “Suitable for marination if you have an English education”.

For those who might know where the jab on the English education came from, we’ve got you covered. When the post by the consumer first went viral, she claimed that the spice contained pork but in actual face, the label of the brand stated that the spice could be used on different meats, including pork. This led to netizens roasting the consumer asking her if she understood English.

https://twitter.com/isusemasaviral/status/1615251921438380033

AEON’s quick and rather risky trend jacking saw over 1.5k shares and over 3.4k reactions, with many lauding the brand for its bold move. Some called the post "savage", while others jokingly said, “Hope AEON moves it to the non-halal section", to which AEON wittily replied, “Of course we cannot mix non-halal with halal ingredients. It is against our policy and standard practice." 

In a conversation with A+M, Low Ngai Yuen, group chief merchandise and marketing officer of AEON Group Malaysia said the brand is always looking for ways to humanise how it speaks across the various media.

“In this case, we applied a comeback line that is a popular character's catchphrase played by famous comedian Usop Wilcha in Hantu Kak Liang Balik Rumah. The intention is definitely not to roast anyone," it said.

Issues surrounding halal foods are always sensitive and AEON jumping in to take advantage of the publicity the issue was getting online sure does help attract more buzz to the brand. According to Meltwater data however, most of the sentiment seems somewhat neutral despite the increase in brand buzz. 

AEON Malaysia has exhibited creativity in its campaigns that garner social reach before. For instance, in July last year, it hosted a fashion show on board a public train as part of the AEON Fashion Preview 2022 to promote its upcoming fashion line. 

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