SW1M panellist fiasco inspires deluge of ads

Product advertisers are riding high on the wave of discontent over the video clip of a panellist berating a student audience at a forum held last month at a public university, poking fun at the fracas in advertisements for anything from fried chicken to mobile services.

Several advertisements have appeared, seemingly spoofing the panellist, Suara Wanita 1Malaysia (SW1M) president Sharifah Zohra Jabeen Syed Shah Miskin, scolding second-year law student KS Bawani at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) and trying to silence her discontent by repeating a string of the word “Listen”.

It would seem these advertisers have discovered the power of social media in responding to national issues as a platform for marketing products in a humorous manner that is aimed to appeal to the young and aware.

First to take the plunge in using the comments bywas restaurant chain Nando’s in an advertisement for its fried chicken offering.

“Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Our chicks are A-okay,” read the online poster on Nando’s Facebook.

Online marketplace Mudah.my too, for example, delighted in spoofing Sharifah who had told her audience, “even sharks have problems. People (on the other hand) complain, complain, complain, complain...”

The website’s poster on Facebook, “LISTEN listen LISTEN.. we sell this in Mudah.my: Cats, dogs, cows, sheep, fishes, (no) sharks”.

Mobile service provider Digi Telecommunications also adopted a similar line to sell their prepaid service with their Facebook ad, “Cows. Chickens. Cats. Even Jaws have problems.

“Dear animals. We know you can’t talk. But if you can type, then you can search/share/tweet/complain online for just RM1/day. Digi Prepaid. No problem.”

Another Digi Facebook poster lead with, “Let Me Speak! Let Me Speak! Let Me Speak!”.

Others adopting the infamous Listen tagline include Logitech Malaysia promoting their headsets, fitness club Daily Muscle, myBirgerLab in announcing service disruption and even an online Quran website and one supposedly by Yes mobile.

SW1M or sink

Swimming school Swimin12 took things a lap further taking advantage of the similarity of their organisation’s name to the 1Malaysia spinoff.

“Listen. What are you doing in Malaysia?” their Facebook poster read, suggesting one should learn to swim, a backstroke swipe at Sharifah’s call for disgruntled students to leave the country.

“What are you doing in Malaysia? Go to Cuba, Argentina, Libya, everywhere,” the panellist had told Bawani.

Apart from advertisers, netizens have also made their own spoofs of the fiasco at the forum, the latter which Bawani told Malaysiakini later was "purely a brainwashing exercise”.

Controversial rapper Namewee on Tuesday mimicked Sharifah on YouTube, while playwright and director Jo Kukathas wrote an open letter to the panellist on Facebook.

“Dear Aunty Sharifah Z,

“After watching your video my cat has become very discontented with her rights. I think she is planning to topple me.

“I told my cat to listen 11 times but she still won't. I need more tips please! It's so hard to bully cats! They don't listen x11.” the letter reads.

Sharifah, in the 24-minute YouTube video that has since gone viral, garnering over 650,000 views and nearly 7,000 ‘dislikes’, was seenscolding Bawani for defending the Bersih electoral reform movement and its leaders Ambiga Shreenevasan and A Samad Said.

Bawani had also argued for free higher eduction, before the SW1M speaker approached her while repeating her now infamous ‘Listen’s’ and pulling away the student’s microphone.

Sharifah then was seen going on a tirade, notoriously commenting that students should stop complaining, as even animals, the likes of cats, dogs and sharks, even “Jaws” have problems.