Indonesians fury over 'Fire your Indonesian maid' ad
Haider Yutim
Februari 4, 2015 01:00 MYT
Februari 4, 2015 01:00 MYT
The phrase on the advertisement caused uproar among Indonesians. - File pic
The marketing strategy of a company selling robotic vacuums in Malaysia has stirred anger among Indonesian people, when one of its ad had allegedly ridiculed the profession of Indonesian maids.
The company, through its advertising, featured a phrase suggesting users to sack their Indonesian maids as it claimed that their functions can be replaced by home cleaning robots.
'Fire your Indonesian maid', said the ad, had the word 'Indonesian' underlined, possibly to emphasize it further. Besides that, the ad also gives the impression that machines are better than humans.
The image of the advertisement was initially uploaded by an Indonesian, Okina Fitriani, after discovering it - much to her shock and dismay.
"This ad is racist, I have lodged a report to the Ministry of Labor. If you're not racist, do not buy any products from this company," said Okina on her Facebook post.
The ad has invited a lot of hate comments since Okina shared the photo on her page. The news has also been widespread in Indonesia particularly in social media.