Brands and governments in SG and MY jump on 'Among Us' trend

If you have been active on social media, you would know that an online game titled "Among Us" has taken the internet by storm. Dubbed as a "murder mystery set in space" by CNN, this multi-player social deduction game sees a group of players going around carrying out various tasks, while trying to find out who is an imposter amongst the group. The game has also brought out the frequent usage of the word "sus", which is short for suspicious.Given the game's increasing popularity, brands in Singapore and Malaysia have since created their own posts that uses the game to promote their products and services.

Here are the ones that the team at Marketing spotted:

NTUC Income

In an Instagram post, NTUC Income used the game to get consumers thinking about what is truly sabotaging their financial goals. The post is accompanied by the caption "Green lookin' a bit sus", implying that the purchase of a new PS5 might be getting in the way of consumers reaching their financial goals. NTUC Income's social media agency is GERMS Digital.

"With Among Us picking up in popularity, we spotted a prime opportunity to ride the wave and use the game concept to get our target audience thinking about their financial decisions. From savings, insurance, the love for bubble tea and the latest gadgets, it is a personal choice on where to best allocate funds. With this post, we hope to help them make a wiser decision," Marcus Chew, chief marketing officer, NTUC Income said.

He added that the post is one of its best performing organic posts to date at its @sageatincome Instagram account, resulting in active and engaging discussions on both Instagram, where it was first shared, and Facebook, where it was adapted and shared as well. 

Circles.Life

Meanwhile, the telco tapped on the game to reiterate to its consumers about its no-contract mobile plans. The post showed in a meeting to determine the imposter, one of the characters is seen asking how they can improve telco combo plans. The orange character, which suggested to extend consumers' contracts, was then ousted as an imposter.

Domino's

Pizza chain Domino's created separated posts for its Singapore and Malaysia markets. For the Singapore market, it got consumers to guess which flavour of pizza is an imposter. Meanwhile, the post for Domino's Malaysia showed different characters donning Domino's outfit standing around a table for an emergency meeting, with one character not quite fitting in. The post is accompanied with the caption: "While you're looking for the imposter, order your favourites and we will deliver it straight to your doorstep."

FamilyMart Malaysia

FamilyMart Malaysia took a different approach, and used the emergency meeting aspect of the game to alert its consumers that its Belgian Dark Chocolate Sofuto is back in its stores. An emergency meeting is usually called in the game when the players gather to vote for an imposter.

7-Eleven Malaysia

Convenience store 7-Eleven was also quick to trendjack, promoting its iconic drink Slurpee in different colours. Among the seven drinks, one stands out from the rest. Are you able to spot it?

Lazada 

ECommerce platform Lazada created two separate posts that were related to the game "Among Us". While the posts aimed to make reference ousting the imposter and providing tips for consumers to earn LazCoins (Lazada's reward currency), some netizens did not find it amusing.

In the comments for its first post, which saw the blue character being ousted after it asked if the other players shopped on Lazada, many netizens said they did not understand the context of the post. While some also said the post did not make sense, one netizen left a tongue-in-cheek comment saying Lazada's post is "sus", and that Lazada is the imposter. 

Besides brands, government bodies in Singapore have also joined in the fun, using the Among Us game to educate Singaporeans on myths regarding services related to them. Check them out:

CPF Board

Singapore Civil Defence Force

Hougang Neighbourhood Police Centre

Did you see any other brands jumping on this trend? Let us know at graceo@marketing-interactive.com

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