Nando's SG hit with 'East Coast' election fever post DPM speech

Nando's Singapore has joined in the General Election (GE) fever in Singapore with a social media post. In a post on its Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter page, the restaurant said it will be providing delivery services to the East Coast. This comes after deputy prime minister Heng Swee Keat, who is a running electoral candidate for the East Coast GRC constituency, gave his nomination speech to the residents. In his speech, Heng said "We also have a plan for East Coast. We have a East Coast, Singapore, we have a together [sic] at East Coast plan. We care for East Coast."

Nando's posted a similar caption for its social ad, which said "Dear East Coast residents, we also have a plan for the East Coast, in Singapore, together for you." It also added "Because we care for East Coast". To ensure audience knew it was an electoral reference, Nando's also added "If Nando's ran for GE, we're the PNP- PERi-PERi Nando's Party."

The social ad has garnered 2,600 positive reactions, 407 comments, and 3,400 shares at the time of writing. Netizens  applauded Nando's for its tongue-in-cheek ad, with one particular netizen who said "the social media manager deserves a one-time bonus. So good, so brutal. Time to visit Nando's." The ad was done in collaboration with digital agency Fishermen Integrated Singapore.

Following its initial post, Nando's posted another ad which said told consumers its vision, should it run for the General Election.

In a statement to Marketing, Juleana Ng, marketing manager, Nando's Singapore said it believes in engaging topics that are relevant to its fans, and in doing so encourage more voices within the community. “PERi-PERi, tasty flame-grilled chicken and witty banter is what Nando’s has always been about and what our fans love us for," Ng added.

"When we respond or get involved in a conversation, it’s never been just for the sake of it – we make sure that it is relevant to Nando’s and to our consumers. We’re always up for a little fun but never put others down nor take ourselves too seriously. At the end of the day, Nando’s is a brand that fires up the soul and puts a smile on people’s faces. This in return gives us the opportunity to create and strengthen the emotional connection with our customers and build brand love," Ng said.

Earlier this year, Nando's also had a tongue-in-cheek comeback for Burger King's ad featuring a mouldy burger. While Burger King promoted its no preservatives move, Nando's reiterated that it has always stuck to 0% preservatives. Next to Burger King's mouldy Whopper, it simply placed an empty one with presumably chicken crumbs with the lines, "Some burgers, after 34 days" and  "Our peri-peri chicken burger after 3-4 mins". The post was conceptualised by Nando's Malaysia's social media agency Fishermen Integrated. Nando's Singapore later reposted it on its Facebook page.

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