Malaysian shoppers call for Kahf boycott after football meme posted by Indonesian grooming brand

Malaysian shoppers have been calling for a boycott of Kahf, an Indonesian men's grooming brand, after a football meme the brand posted. Numerous people have voiced their complaints on social media.

A meme after the ASEAN Cup final

On Oct 5 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia defeated Thailand and claimed the first-ever FIFA ASEAN Cup. Afterwards, Kahf put up a meme on its Threads account bearing the phrase "hati-hati beda level", meaning "be careful, different levels". Above the phrase was the Indonesian flag, while beneath it were flags of other nations such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Kahf removed the post and apologised publicly, saying the post was unacceptable and did not "reflect our values and the respect we stand for as a brand". Two days after the original post, on Oct 7, the apology was published. The brand also said rebuilding trust takes more than an apology, and that it was committed to earning it back through its actions.

The apology did little to calm the anger, and Malaysian users kept calling for a boycott. Consumers on Threads, Facebook and TikTok have posted clips showing them binning Kahf products and encouraging others to steer clear of the brand, which is available online and at major pharmacy chains. The campaign has also spread to other brands from Kahf's parent company, ParagonCorp, such as its sister brand Wardah. Calls have also been made by some for broader boycotts of Indonesian brands within Malaysia, but that idea has found less support.

Brand ambassadors split

Johan Ghazali, a Kahf brand ambassador, acknowledged the misstep but urged consumers to move on. "It really isn't that big of a deal, chill guys," he said on Oct 7. Numerous netizens slammed him over this remark and contrasted his reaction with that of Alif Satar, a fellow Kahf ambassador in Malaysia, who appeared to have adopted a tougher position. Alif stated that he had taken note of the apology, yet clear and concrete actions were needed to win back trust.

Experts on tension and pride

Oh Ei Sun, principal adviser at Pacific Research Center of Malaysia, told CNA that exchanges between social media users in the two countries can get particularly heated, with cross-border banter often spiralling into toxic discourse. He said the row coincided with regional frustration over the haze from Indonesian forest fires, calling it "already a high-tension period".

Benjamin Loh, a media and communications lecturer at Monash University Malaysia, said brands increasingly use informal, "netizen-like banter" to boost engagement. "It's not the easiest line to straddle as insult-based banter will always end up insulting potential customers," he said. Loh further said that national pride strongly drives online spaces across the region, especially when people feel foreign brands have belittled them.

Regional brands have to give cultural sensitivity and public sentiment absolute priority, CNA was told by Syed Mohammed Idid, who is deputy chairman of the Public Relations Practitioners Society of Malaysia. "If you want to go after a market, you have to be sensitive about the cultural nuances and the political sensitivities of the country," he said.

Will the boycott last?

According to Yeah Kim Leng, an economist at Sunway University who spoke to CNA, boycotts on social media bring about brief drops in sales and nationalist feeling but seldom do lasting harm to a brand. He said campaigns like the BDS movement last far longer because they resonate across broader segments of society and tap into deeper ideological convictions.

Indonesia's minister Budi Santoso was reported to have played down the boycott calls, saying they had not affected bilateral trade ties. "This is probably just a temporary response," he was quoted as saying by Tempo on Oct 8.