Social media marketing is a relatively new phenomenon on the advertising industry and it has led companies to contract influential figures to promote their products. This is usually done by either by talking about the product forthrightly or by mentioning the product seamlessly in the post.
Well, Biko Zulu, the famous writer is known for his great stories on his blog like the widely shared story about Jadudi which ended up starting the #1MillionForJadudi hashtag that led to people contributing for Jadudi’s healthcare bill. This time however, Biko Zulu is trending for the wrong reasons thanks to a post that was shared on his social media accounts. (Facebook and Instagram).
The post was about a hard hitting story of a rape ordeal and depression a young woman went through, but the issue people pointed out was the product placement towards the end of the post, which made people all riled up.
Here are the comments people posted about the post made by Biko on Facebook. Most people were quite mad about the juxtaposition of the story and the product placement.
When the story was shared on Twitter later on, it caused an uproar where they condemned Biko for the post just like how people on Facebook did before.
To all the victims of rape, to all the young girls reading that post. IT IS NEVER YOUR FAULT. NEVER.
— Shiko
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(@ShikoNguru) November 7, 2016
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(@ShikoNguru) Eh Johnie Walker peeps decided to use a rape victim and a Bipolar patient as their pitching point for the drink.
— La Sape (@mokayah) November 7, 2016
In the year 2016, someone is using the story of a lady who was raped while drunk to sell alcohol.
— Sharon Adongo (@Shadongo) November 7, 2016
My God. Do you know how many people have to ok a campaign before it runs?? From agency to client? All these people thought this was OK???
— aisha (@bintiM) November 7, 2016
How is someone's rape story being used to sell alcohol? How is this OK. STOP. USING. WOMEN's. TRAUMA.
— Minion. (@Lucykims) November 7, 2016
Like that's the worst use of an influencer and or individual's personal struggle to push a campaign
— Sarah Waiswa (@LAfrohemien) November 7, 2016
He has since deleted the post and issued an apology to his audience which has been quoted verbatim below.
We appreciate your comments on the last post. Our intention was not to offend anyone’s sensibilities, it was inappropriate. We have since pulled down the post and we sincerely apologize for this.
Read On Web → Social Media Uproar Forces Influencer To Pull Down Post