BFM station gives Netflix a taste of street food after Malaysia exclusion

Local radio station BFM 89.9 and independent advertising agency Fishermen have collaborated to launch #BersatuForMakan (Unite for Food) in conjunction with the upcoming National Day and Malaysia Day celebrations. The campaign is a call to all Malaysians to unite for the love of local food, taking a hit at Netflix for excluding Malaysia from its documentary series Street Food Asia, while featuring neighbouring countries Singapore and Indonesia.In an attempt to correct the mistake in the series, BFM and Fishermen self-produced a video featuring Malaysian street food video, which will roll out on 16 September 2019. Both parties have also started an online petition to get Netflix to run the video as part of its Street Food Asia series. At the time of writing, the petition has garnered close to 8,000 signatures since it started on 23 August 2019.The #BersatuForMakan campaign is supported by Ittify as the social media influencer marketing partner and Rantau Golin as the public relations partner. Here’s a call-to-action clip for Malaysians to sign the petition:Known for encouraging discourse and pushing boundaries, BFM general manager, Meera Sivasothy said the team at BFM felt the need in taking the initiative to “shout about the nation’s culturally rich and diverse food” that reflects the country overall.Meanwhile, Andrew Tan, executive creative director of Fishermen said this campaign is an opportunity for the team to do something different for this year’s National Day and Malaysia Day. “Instead of producing another web film to pull heartstrings, we decided on something unique: A longer format 30-minute film that’s also ready-made for Netflix. It was the right opportunity to work on an idea like this, so we seized it,” he said.According to BFM and Fishermen, the video being produced will be in the same format and style as Netflix’s show, making it “convenient” for Netflix to air it as an episode in the Street Food Asia series.Mark Darren Lee, managing director of Fishermen added: “We’re glad to have a partner such as BFM who believes in such a daring idea and wants to bring all Malaysians together for the things that truly matter – our unity and our identity. We’re happy to see the great response and support from Malaysians and from other brands. We hope Netflix responds positively too by agreeing to feature our video in its series. We believe it’s a win-win situation for them, us and the people of Malaysia.”Read also:Iflix pokes fun at Netflix’s food series by promoting its local culinary shows