MY shoe brand sees brand sentiments plummet over misinterpreted logo

Malaysian shoe brand Verns Holdings has seen its brand sentiments plummet over a logo it had on one of its shoes that allegedly resembled the word “Allah” in Arabic script.

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According to media intelligence firm CARMA the shoe brand had relatively few mentions on social media prior to this incident, with sentiments of social conversations at 4.3% positive and 0% negative. 95.7% of social conversations were of neutral sentiment, according to Divika Jethmal, head of marketing Asia at CARMA. 

However, the incident brought the brand to the forefront of social conversations, with positive sentiment at 0% and negative conversations at 58.9%.

The word cloud surrounding the brand also included mentions of "Allah", "apologises" and "offending" after the incident.

What happened? 

Umno Youth chief Muhamad Akmal Saleh reportedly said that he received a Facebook message from an unnamed individual over the weekend regarding a shoe that was found in a local shoe shop. The shoe had a logo on its sole that looked like the word “Allah” in Arabic script and Malaysian police were asked to look into it. 

Verns Holdings has since issued an apology for having the logo and that it had no intention of coming up with a logo design aimed at disparaging or insulting any religion or belief. 

It added that the design was completely based on the shadow of a lace line connected to a high heel. However, it admitted that there were flaws in the logo which could have led t it being misinterpreted as offensive to some parties. 

Verns Holding said that it has immediately stopped the sale of the shoes and said that it is prepared to refund customers who have already purchased the items. 

Verns Holding also said that it would like to apologise to all and to be given the chance to rectify the mistake.

Since then, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (religious affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar has reportedly asked that all relevant parties be summoned so that they can explain themselves. 

The news comes shortly after Malaysia’s King, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, granted an audience to Chai Kee Kan, the owner of KK Mart last week. Chai was recently involved in a controversy for the sale of socks bearing the word 'Allah'. 

During the 15-minute meeting at Istana Negara, Chai apologised to the King for the controversy caused by the sale of the socks. 

In a social media post by the King, Chai also asked for forgiveness from the King, as well as from Muslims who were offended by the socks.

The King decreed that all parties, including KK Mart, must be more careful with the products they sell, especially imported goods, to avoid any recurrences of the issue.

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