SingTel 'mRemit' marketing video slammed for being too cheesy

SingTel's mRemit advertisement has created a kerfuffle online, with netizens criticising it as 'cheesy' and 'cringe-worthy'. Three days after a sub-par Singapore Tourism Board (STB) promotional video went viral, another video targeted at Filipinos wo
SingTel's mRemit advertisement has created a kerfuffle online, with netizens criticising it as 'cheesy' and 'cringe-worthy'. Three days after a sub-par Singapore Tourism Board (STB) promotional video went viral, another video targeted at Filipinos working here has created a kerfuffle online. -- PHOTO: SINGTEL

Three days after a sub-par Singapore Tourism Board (STB) promotional video went viral, another video targeted at Filipinos working here has created a kerfuffle online.

SingTel produced the three-minute video to promote its mRemit service, which allows Filipino workers to remit money back to the Philippines through a mobile application.

Marketing agency PosterWalker confirmed to The Straits Times that it executed the campaign, but it is not known who came up with the concept.

The campaign included a stunt where 10 male models had their upper bodies painted. They posed for pictures with passers-by and customers at the SingtTel shop in Lucky Plaza on Sept 23, 2012, when the remittance service was first launched.

When contacted, a SingTel spokesman said: "The video was part of a campaign that ended in March. We've taken note of the comments posted online."

In the video, a Filipino woman is frustrated at having to queue to remit money back home. Suddenly, a topless man with a SingTel uniform painted on his body appears, telling the woman the "bare" facts of SingTel mRemit.

The video then continues with two muscular men explaining to the woman how the mobile remitting service works, while she swoons over them.

Netizens have criticised the video as "cringe-worthy" and many are making fun of the mispronunciation of the word "remit" as "rare meat" in the video.

Others commented that the over-the-top acting was characteristic of remittance services advertisements in the Philippines and that it was a "clever piece of micro-targeted advertising".

Some speculated whether it was capitalising on the STB video, which has been taken down from its official website upon the negative feedback.

The STB video also spawned numerous parodies including one by local comedian Chua En Lai.

However, the SingTel advertisement is not likely to be a form of ambush marketing, as the video was posted on SingTel's Facebook page on Mar 21, 2014 - two weeks before the STB video went viral.

vthor@sph.com.sg

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