Indonesian Cosmetics Brand Puts Itself "Above" Others, And Then Apologises

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A beauty cosmetics brand from Indonesia recently posted an image that was not quite “beautiful” to others.

It was a photo of what looked like a warning sticker on a floor that said Hati-hati beda level which translates to “Be careful, difference in level”.

The warning was most likely asking pedestrians to watch their step over uneven ground, but the brand repurposed it to create a rather offensive message.

Whoever was behind the Instagram wheel of skincare brand Kahf decided to place country flag emojis on the photo with the Indonesian flag above the warning strip, and a few other country flags — including Malaysia — below the strip, implying that Indonesia is above the others.

Many reminded the brand that it has international customers, especially in Malaysia, before criticising it and calling for a boycott.

Not long after the post went viral, the brand issued a public apology through their official Threads account @kahfeveryday.

They also removed the post immediately, although screenshots of it has been widely circulated in social media already.

The damage has been done, and Malaysians in the comments section have told that they have cancelled their Kahf orders.

Some even dramatically shared videos of themselves throwing their Kahf products into rubbish bins.

Meanwhile, others shared Malaysian skincare brands to turn to, in a bid to steer people away from Kahf products.

As evident in the past, boycotting is strong in Malaysia and brands that misstep risk suffering significant negative impact to their business, especially if a large portion of their customers are from here.

Its sister brand Wardah, which is also popular among Muslim Malaysian women as a halal cosmetics brand, is sharing the backlash with Kahf.

Both brands are owned by the same parent company, PT Paragon Technology and Innovation (ParagonCorp).

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