Following
the recent discovery of serial attempts to defame Amstel Malta, through
concocted video productions, the nation’s security agencies have begun a
massive cyber hunt for the brains behind the act.
In August 2016, Amstel Malta, the premium, low
sugar formulated malt drink from the stable of Nigerian Breweries, launched a new
credential campaign #WhyAddMore. Shortly after the campaign, a picture went
viral that a fake version of the Amstel Malta is in circulation. This was
because the new packaging wore the new NIS logo while the old packaging had the
old NIS logo of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria.
Soon after this, the Nigerian
consumers were greeted with another offensive video of an Amstel Malta can
drink allegedly containing a strange object. A faceless consumer recorded an
alleged contaminated drink and circulated it on social media.
The company thereafter reported the
defamation attempt to the security agencies for further investigation.
Mr. Fred Akingbesote, Deputy Director, who represented the
Director General of the organisation, explained to Journalists in Lagos that
Nigerian Breweries have met all SON safety and quality requirements and have
complied with all requirements of the new National Industrial Standard (NIS)
logo.
He maintained that the people behind the defamation are just
playing on the intelligence of Nigerians. “We have a web site (www.son.gov.ng) which contains all information on
our standards and quality regulations. Every Nigerian who has doubts about any
product certified by SON should crosscheck the facts”, he said.
Forensic and
marketing analysts have also observed that it is very clear that the same
source that initially created a video of a purported ‘fake ’ or ‘original’ but who could not
sustain the fabrication is the source responsible for the current orchestration and poor
dramatization of discovery of foreign content.
Analysts and observers agreed that
this might be coming from the enemy’s camp as the recording left many gaps to
cast a doubt on the genuineness of the video. For instance, the can was opened
before the video recording, thus failing the basic test of validity.
They maintained that a careful look at
the video reveals a lot of inconstancies and fallacies such as:
Ø The can was not transparent for a
consumer to see the content before pouring it
Ø It is technical impossible to have a
foreign object in non-reusable container like a can
Ø The content was poured into a bowl
instead of a cup ready for drinking
Ø The content was not foaming like
the normal Amstel Malta
Ø All the persons in the video were faceless
Ø The video camera was targeted
severally at the Can to flash the logo of the product (perhaps to cause more
damage to the premium brand)
Ø The ‘consumer’ did not tell us how he
got to know that there was an object in the can.
Ø There was no mention of where it was
bought or any intention to confront the retailer.
According to
the analysts, the attempt remains a despicable and dirty way to ignite a brand
war by exploiting the gullibility and stupidity of many social media users.
Marketing experts also maintained that
the ‘sword’ may have emanated from interested industry persons who are afraid
of the flight of Amstel Malta in Nigeria’s marketing space..
“The video
is nothing but another dimension to our usual 'PHD' (pull him /her down)
attempt characteristic of people on the floor. Let us spoil a good name if we
can't be as good. It is therefore surprising that anybody would want to attack
the reputation of one of our premium products whose market leadership is
undisputable in its segment”, a Lagos-based marketing analyst submitted last
week.
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