People are calling to boycott Vietnam’s top footwear brand, Biti’s, after it launched an ad campaign featuring young people putting paint on their shoes and walking around Da Lat.
According to a report 0n Dtinews, many people voiced outrage after the Youth Trip Campaign was launched. In the video clip, a group of young people put paint on their shoes so that they could leave behind their mark on many famous locations in Da Lat such as a pine forest and the Children’s Palace. In the end, it is shown that the young people try to clean the marks like cleaning away hasty decisions.
The video clip was criticised for backing public vandalism and encouraging others to dirty the city.
Biti’s has is issued an apology, stating that it was never their intention to create a PR scandal to market their products. However, their apology has failed to garner sympathy from the public.
“You can’t clean the paint from the trees. The campaign doesn’t look bad but dirtying Da Lat is just bad. Their dealing with the media is so naive. As a resident in Da Lat, I’ll call for a boycott against Biti’s. They’re harming the city just to attract likes on social media,” reader Nguyen Tung Giang commented.
Biti’s promised to halt the campaign but hasn’t taken down the video clip. The video clip is still uploaded on pop star Son Tung MTP’s YouTube channel and this has enraged the public further. Many people are calling for Biti’s to completely remove the video clip online.