OH EM [cha]GEE!
A bad PR move? SEATED.
A famous teahouse chain is currently under fire for working with a local lifestyle & fashion brand that is known for many reasons - one of it mainly being, plagiarism and unoriginality.
Chagee Malaysia announced 6 days ago via Instagram, their newest campaign to introduce the first time 'Lapsang Souchong Black Milk Tea' with even a brand new packaging!
And Malaysians were more than thrilled.
However not long after, Malaysians realised that it is collaboration with local brand 'The dUCk Group'.
And suddenly everyone's not so excited anymore.
In a recent post on X, a fellow Malaysian called out Chagee Malaysia for collaborating with the brand saying "It's such a shame you collaborate with such brands, when you could collab with local artists that create their arts genuinely."
Salam @my_chagee,
— FIR (@fdajesfry) May 2, 2024
I really love your tea and drinks. But just wanna let you know, I'll stop buying your product until your campaign with Duck ends. It's such a shame you collaborate with such brands, when you could collab with local artists that create their arts genuinely.
The tweet has now garnered 480k views and counting. In the comments, other Malaysians are expressing their opinions as well.
Addressing the collab as "distasteful" and "lack of brand awareness", Malaysians call to boycott the brand until the collaboration, ironically named "#TastefullyDifferent", with The dUCk Group ends.
In 2020, local brand dUCk was accused of plagiarising another local artist's design and campaign concept.
Upon launching their new line then, 'The Artsy dUCk', local designer, influencer and brand Nia Atasha with Sleepy Studio and Soonaru came forward claiming that the entire concept is very much similar to their own collection that was released in 2018.
This sparked a major controversy among netizens and many showed support to Nia in her claims, as this isn't the first time the brand and creator was accused of plagiarism.
The brand's creator responded to the claims shortly after they were made public. The statement "dUCk scarves didn't copy as past accusation say, and this includes The Artsy dUCk" appears in her post.
However, due to the very similar concepts and multiple accusations, many Malaysians simply decided to not further support the brand any longer.
Which is probably why they are very much UNhappy with Chagee Malaysia's decision for this collaboration.
With Chagee Malaysia serving the new packaging for all their orders currently, Malaysians are either boycotting or putting in a request for Chagee's original packaging when making an order.
Thoughts?
