Nets and Havas apologised after a cashless-payment ad put a Chinese actor in 'brownface'

Promote a unified e-payment solution being deployed at hawker centres, canteens and coffee shops, part of an Enterprise Singapore-led effort to drive cashless adoption.

Show that cashless payment is for everyone by having one well-known actor play customers from different backgrounds.

The ad featured Mediacorp celebrity Dennis Chew portraying several characters, including a woman in a tudung and a man with visibly darker skin. Nets, appointed 'master acquirer' for small food businesses, ran it with creative agency Havas Worldwide Singapore.

Politicians and web users called the ad offensive and insensitive, and a police report was made. Nets and Havas apologised, saying the campaign meant to communicate that e-payment is for everyone. Havas said it regretted if anyone had been offended. Enterprise Singapore had yet to respond to The Straits Times.

In 2019 Singapore e-payment firm Nets and agency Havas Worldwide Singapore ran a campaign promoting a unified e-payment solution for hawker centres, canteens and coffee shops, part of a multi-agency push led by Enterprise Singapore with the Housing Board, National Environment Agency and JTC Corp.

The ad cast Mediacorp's Dennis Chew as multiple characters, including a woman in a tudung and a man with visibly darker skin. It was described as offensive and insensitive by politicians and web users, and became the subject of a rap video on racism by YouTuber Preeti Nair and her brother Subhas Nair. A day after a police report was made, Nets and Havas apologised for any hurt caused. Havas said Singapore's multicultural society defines it as a nation.

One actor in several ethnic roles read as caricature, not inclusion.

The setting was everyday hawker-centre life, which the public felt strongly about.

It was a public-sector-backed campaign in a country that stresses racial harmony.

Using one actor to stand for everyone's skin tones undercuts a message of inclusion, however well meant.

The Straits Times reported the apologies and noted Mumbrella Asia's report of a Havas regional creative officer's resignation, which Havas said was a move to pursue other opportunities and a source called unrelated.