Singapore — Xiaxue has weighed in on the current controversy involving Night Owl Cinematics co-founder Sylvia Chan to say that in instances when influencers make the news for negative behaviour, and the brands they endorse drop them, “it is the brands that are winning.”
Ms Chan has been under fire for the past week for allegedly verbally abusing her employees, calling them “f***ing dumb”, and creating a toxic work environment for her staff.
The fallout from the accusations has been considerable for Ms Chan, with Colgate recently announcing that it “terminated all related collaborations” with her.
“Rest assured that Colgate does not tolerate any negative behaviors, and we will continue to be the brand that champions optimism,” the brand wrote.
MILO has also said its campaign with her has ended, and it no longer has pending projects with the Night Owl Cinematics’ (NOC) co-founder. It does “not condone any form of unacceptable behaviour,” MILO added.
In the latest developments, NOC has claimed that the accusations against Ms Chan were made to harm the company’s reputation.
The Instagram page @sgcickenrice, which published the accusations against Ms Chan, has also lawyered up.
And now influencer Xiaxue, whose real name Wendy Low has offered her take on one aspect of the controversy—the brands that have spoken up since the accusations against Ms Chan was published.
On her Instagram Stories, she said she will refrain from commenting on the issue “for now,” since she is friends with “both Sylvia and ryan,” referring to Mr Ryan Tan, NOC’s other co-founder and Chief Operations Officer, who is also Ms Chan’s ex-husband.
“But I’ve had a revelation and I just want to talk about it,” wrote the outspoken Xiaxue. “Whenever influencers are embroiled in any controversy, it is the brands that are winning.”
She went on to say that in situations similar to the one of Ms Chan, brands “hop out left right centre” to quickly announce they are pulling their partnerships.
This wins “triple publicity” for brands, she wrote.
“Trust me when I say even though this publicity might be seen as negative, it really isn’t going to impact the brand negatively at all,” Xiaxue wrote, adding that speaking up on the controversy still contributes to brand awareness.
Media covers what brands say about the controversy, all for free.
And then, these brands gain public approval for doing the right thing.
And while influencers generally get paid once for endorsing a brand, perceptions concerning the relationships endure.
“Meaning you pay me for a post, I do it, I get the money, you get our publicity. Donezo. Our relationship has ended. You don’t get to jump out of the shadows and be like ‘Surprise! I also terminate Xiaxue!’
The only thing they risk is not being able to work with the influencer again, but who cares, influencers are a dime a dozen,” she wrote.
Xiaxue, who has railed against cancel culture in the past, wrote that for her, it’s “mega annoying” when brands drop influencers embroiled in controversy, calling it a “d**k move” while coming across as “saintly arbitrators” for moral living.
“Stop acting like you just doing ‘the right thing’ when you are happy like a bird that you paid SG$1,000 and got SG$10,000 worth of publicity,” she wrote. /TISG