SINGAPORE - While popular travel vlogger Nuseir Yassin of Nas Daily fame has left Singapore, his presence is still being felt here - this time in the form of a sponsored video for NTUC Income.
In the video posted to the local insurer's Facebook page on Oct 8, Mr Yassin, 26, can be seen promoting RevoRetire, an NTUC Income savings plan.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, NTUC Income did not reveal how much it paid the Palestinian-Israeli for the sponsored video, saying it does not disclose details of partnerships with third parties.
However, NTUC Income clarified that it did not sponsor the vlogger's trip to Singapore in late August to early September.
Mr Yassin says in the clip that a retirement plan like RevoRetire "makes sense", given Singaporeans' higher life expectancy and the need to pay "for a lot of things".
"Singaporeans live longer but the bad news is that you might not be able to afford it," Mr Yassin says, after a short segment where he doodles on a scrapbook to explain how the numbers add up.
NTUC Income also posted the video on its website, asking potential customers to "hear from Nas Daily about retirement planning".
Mr Marcus Chew, chief marketing officer at NTUC Income, said that the insurer chose Mr Yassin for his ability to "quickly size up complex issues" in his short and engaging videos for a time-scarce audience.
"Insurance and financial planning concepts can be challenging to grasp... The intent is to present a refreshing point of view about insurance protection, and in this case, retirement planning, in (a) uniquely Singapore context," he added.
This is not the first time Income has tried to advertise its retirement planning products here with a video-based marketing campaign.
On Sept 5, ST reported that the insurance firm's video on the "worst parents in the world" had garnered 5.1 million views and 90,000 shares across various channels at the time.
The Oct 8 Facebook video was shot in various locations when Mr Yassin was in Singapore in September.
It has since been viewed more than 41,000 times and shared over 610 times.
Mr Yassin's videos on the Republic on the travel-focused Nas Daily Facebook page have garnered a few million views and thousands of shares each.
One such video, on Singapore's waste management system, entitled How Singapore Cleans, has over 65 million views and 768,000 shares on Facebook.
The tie-up with NTUC Income has revived accusations that his videos on Singapore were paid for, though Mr Yassin makes clear in the opening of the NTUC Income video that it is sponsored.
For instance, one Facebook user commented "Adsdaily" under the video, while another used a sad face emoji in noting that the video was sponsored.
In September, when Mr Yassin visited Singapore, he told ST that not many people expect someone to be positive without being paid.
"But this reflects badly on them, rather than on me. If you don't think something is worth celebrating just because of your political orientation, then it reflects badly on you, because you can't see beyond politics," he added.
The accusations that his Singapore clips were paid for prompted Mr Yassin to clarify in another video that about 97 per cent of his videos are not sponsored.
ST has contacted Mr Yassin for comment.
