New Balance MY's brand sentiments dip following improper sale of shoes containing pigskin

Footwear brand New Balance has seen a dip in brand sentiment among Malaysian netizens following a recent blunder where it sold shoes containing pigskin ingredients without properly disclosing that information to its consumers.

According to a statement seen by A+M, New Balance Malaysia said that it had received multiple queries regarding the material composition for its U990TA4 shoe style. After an investigation, the company found that a small part of the shoe contained pigskin.

Related articles: New Balance MY apologises and ceases sale of shoes containing pigskin ingredients

In an attempt to mitigate the situation, New Balance Malaysia has since apologised, recalled and ceased the sale of the U990TA4 shoes. The brand is also offering a full refund or product exchange to affected customers.

Despite its efforts, brand sentiments for New Balance in Malaysia has dipped. According to media intelligence company CARMA, keywords associated with the brand 30 days prior to the incident were 19.9% positive and only 2.4% negative. Keywords associated with New Balance included ‘stylish’, ‘comfortable’ and ‘design’.

In contrast, following the incident, negative sentiments surrounding the brand rose to 15.8%. Social conversations surrounding the brand also focused on the material used to make its shoes instead of the brand’s other attributes prior to the incident.

Keywords associated with the brand now include the words ‘refund’ and ‘haram’ (not fit to use according to Islamic law). Interestingly, positive sentiments have not fallen by a similar extent. In fact, positive sentiments fell by around 1% to 18.5%.

A+M has reached out to New Balance for a statement.

Brands in Malaysia have been facing the heat as of late. Recently, Malaysian model and actress Nia Atasha Rosli triggered heated discussions online after global lingerie label Victoria’s Secret announced her as the brand’s first Malay-Muslim model. Rosli was also featured alongside Miss Universe Malaysia 2018 Jane Teoh and Thai actress and model Janie Tienphosuwan in the brand's first localised T-Shirt Bra Collection campaign. 

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