Shopee PH's new brand ambassador leads to boycott, Lazada milks outpour of love

Shopee is making headlines recently for its staff cuts. Amidst all of the news, the brand is taking another blow after netizens called out the brand for taking on board actress and singer Toni Gonzaga as its new brand ambassador.

https://twitter.com/ShopeePH/status/1574957066342453248

The brand was called out spending money on a brand ambassador amidst mass culling of job, and using a controversial figure  as the face of its brand. Gonzaga became a controversial figure in Philippines for supporting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte in the 2022 elections. She also held several controversial interviews with the political figures.

Hashtags #BoycottShopee and #ByeShopee have been trending on social media.

https://twitter.com/iheartyoungie/status/1574966305257508864

https://twitter.com/GerryCacanindin/status/1575023959086489601

https://twitter.com/PinoyAkoBlog/status/1575386548220350464

Shopee also stated that Gonzaga was chosen for her “mass appeal” and not her political leanings”, however, several netizens felt that this was Shopee’s tactic to divert attention from the company’s mass layoff of employees in the Philippines.

According to Meltwater, social conversation also showed that people questioned the layoffs while Shopee was willing to pay a “traitor” to the country. However, people who supported Gonzaga’s ambassadorship said that this was just another case of cancel culture and they would continue purchasing products on Shopee.

Amidst the controversy, many also threw their support behind Shopee’s competitor Lazada saying they would be switching platforms – which then made the brand trend on Twitter with the hashtag #HelloLazada.  Milking the moment, Lazada Philippines thanked consumers for “always thinking” of the brand and decided to give away surprise vouchers worth P500 to ten lucky winners.

https://twitter.com/LazadaPH/status/1574993042624643073

News around Shopee’s job cuts come amidst its other entities also cutting their teams. The brand reportedly plans to fire 3% of its Indonesia employees amidst a series of job cuts that it has carried out globally so far. The announcement regarding the potential job cuts was made during a town hall.

It also cut employees in Singapore from the marketing, regional operations, product and engineering and HR teams. While a Shopee spokesperson could not confirm the departments affected in the latest round of cuts to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, she said, “These changes are part of our ongoing efforts to optimise operating efficiency with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency across our business. We are extending support to our affected colleagues during this transition.”

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