Cancel culture is nothing new. It’s basically boycotting a person, business or brand because of something they said or did. The speed of cancelling someone these days is swifter than ever thanks to the power of social media. This is something Xiaxue (real name Wendy Cheng) is all too familiar with.
Given her close ties with Night Owl Cinematics (NOC) founders Sylvia Chan and Ryan Tan, Xiaxue didn’t comment on the allegations against the people are involved. Instead, she discussed how partner brands are the ones who tend to benefit the most whenever any influencer controversy arises.
In a series of Instagram Stories, Xiaxue wrote, “Every time someone gets cancelled, all these companies hop out left right centre to say they are dropping the influencer.” As with the recent drama, Colgate stated in their IG account that it had terminated its giveaway collaboration with Sylvia. Milo also said that the brand does not have any ongoing projects with Sylvia.
In the past, long-term clients had to distance themselves from her after getting “mob” non-stop by netizens. Having said that, Xiaxue could at least appreciate the PRs who gave her the heads up before publishing their statements so she wouldn’t feel blindsided. It showed “they care about me as a human being”, instead of just an “inanimate billboard”. She continued, “They didn’t want to stop working with me because we had a good relationship and they are forced to make a public statement. That’s fine, I understand.”
What pisses her off are the clients that take the easy way out the moment an influencer gets embroiled in a controversy. When this happens, Xiaxue argued that the brand(s) stand to gain “triple publicity”:
- The initial paid ad.
- View surge in the midst of bad publicity.
- When brands publicly cut ties with said controversial influencer.
Xiaxue also shed light on how brand campaigns work, clarifying that most campaigns are a one-off basis. “You pay me for one post. I do it. I get money you get your publicity. Finish. Donezo. Our relationship has ENDED,” she added.
In addition to sharing her own bad experience with a small neon sign brand that took place last year, Xiaxue is suggesting to perhaps add a clause in the contract for clients to compensate the influencer, should they choose to terminate a contract. “No really, it’s good publicity that you are riding off my back for, so I ought to be compensated for it,” she said.
You can check out Sylvia’s lengthy apology here.
Source: Mothership.
