Adding fuel to the fake fire
Updated | By Wendy Knowler
Social media gives we consumers a powerful voice; a means to expose how we’ve been wronged by companies; and to warn others of dodgy practices and rip offs. And you’re safe - legally - if what you say publicly is true. Factual, real - not fake.
Take a listen to this week's episode of ConsumerWatch or read the details under the podcast.
Sadly, the facts tend not to have the shock value of the fake stuff, which is
why those fake food videos go viral.
And they get people nicely stirred up; stirred up enough to go on a violent
rampage, as we saw with the recent looting of foreign-owned shops in Soweto.
A Durban woman, Zaheera, watched one of those social media videos claiming that
plastic rice is being passed off as real rice.
How can you tell if rice is fake, that is plastic? Well, you cook it up and
then you roll into a little ball and then you throw it against your kitchen
wall, and if it bounces that means it’s plastic.
Really?
So a week or two ago, Zaheera decided to go one better than just sharing that video on all her platforms. She decided to do the plastic rice test on a locally sold brand of Basmati rice, Golden Delight, film the whole thing and then share that video for her few minutes of fame.
And what do you know - her little rice balls bounced - proof positive
Gold Delight rice is actually little pieces of plastic.
What she should have done, of course, is spend a couple of minutes online, to
establish whether plastic rice is a reality or not.
And in just a few seconds she would have discovered that it’s a hoax that’s
been doing the rounds in Africa, especially up north where rice is the staple
food, for a few years now.
But no, Zaheera told people that Golden Delight rice was plastic.
Enter Naeem Adam of Durban-based company Gold Keys, which has sold Golden
Delight rice for 25 years.
“To our horror,” he told Consumerwatch, “we woke up to the post being shared by
friends urging us to urgently respond to the false allegations being made.”
The company reached out to Zaheera via Facebook and asked her to get in touch,
which she did.
I asked Naeem whether they considered legal action, given that Zaheera’s video
was very clearly defamation, being totally untrue.
“The legal route was one of our options as protection of our brand is of
paramount importance,” he said. “We also wanted to dispel the falsehood that
was being spread and ensure that our loyal consumers were re-assured that they
are receiving premium quality rice.”
In the end, the parties agreed that Zaheera make a second video, an apology
video…
The Gold Keys people have come away from the experience with a new respect for
the power of social media.
“Rice has been consumed for generations and as brand owners we sometimes assume
that the general hoaxes out there don’t need to be addressed as it “can never
impact us”, Naeem said.
“But the power of Social Media is certainly much greater than most of us
realise.
And Zaheera has learnt the most important lesson of social media.
If what you post is not true, and not in the public interest, it’s defamatory.
And you’re opening yourself up to legal action from the company or individual
you have defamed.
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