Snapshot: Global Brands with a Singapore Twist, Virtual Faces and National Day AI Slop
How many stars are arising? 🌠
This snapshot covers how global brands catch local eyeballs by localising their visuals, the rise of local AI influencers, and AI-generated National Day visuals.
Global Going Local
When international brands add a local twist to their marketing efforts, the results can be a visual treat. While some attempts have gone horribly wrong (China comes to mind), the best ones demonstrate a deep understanding of cultural nuances and an appreciation for local markets.
Recently, these two marketing visuals by international brands caught my eye:
Samsung
To tease the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, which features a new “passport-style” form factor, Samsung Singapore posted silhouettes made of culturally significant items such as rainbow kueh lapis and Peranakan tiles. Layers were peeled or removed to represent the shorter form factor.
Since food is such a big part of our culture, there was also a version featuring our iconic ice cream sandwich, with raspberry ripple representing our flag colours, of course.
Pokémon
Singapore’s Pokémon Center reopened in July after a three-month renovation. A special visual choke full of easter exeggcutes celebrated the reopening: the dragon playground was Charizard-themed, Klawf was perched on the roof of Lau Pa Sat (chilli crab RIP), while Buizel and Floatzel were swimming through Marina Bay.
Lapras, which used to be the centrepiece of Singapore’s Pokémon Center, has now been replaced by Solgaleo, the legendary lion of Pokémon Sun. Maybe there will be a Merlion-themed Pokémon in the future.
AInfluencers
Move over generic “lifestyle” influencer, watch out for Hei Jin and H𝘈𝘐LEY K, virtual brand ambassadors for Mr Bean Singapore and Maxi-Cash respectively.
As her name suggests, Hei Jin was introduced this year to promote Mr Bean’s black sesame product range, including its soymilk, pancake and beancurd. Dressed in black shades, a black leather jacket and matching black nail polish, Hei Jin’s cool biker girl aesthetic tries to convince customers that they, too, can be cool by buying black sesame products.
Did Mr Bean forget that its logo is literally its mascot? Why introduce a new brand ambassador when you already have one of Singapore’s most recognisable mascots? Maybe Mr Bean simply was not cool enough, although he did receive a makeover for the black sesame campaign.
H𝘈𝘐LEY K is practically a veteran in comparison. She has been fronting Maxi Cash’s social media since 2023, trying to convince us that she has been consistently buying gold jewellery while maintaining her xmm look.
The criticisms of these local AI influencers may sound harsh, but that is not to say that virtual influencers cannot succeed (bear in mind that influencer success does not translate to client success). Look at imma from Japan, a pioneer virtual idol. Her success came from building a strong brand through organic content, BEFORE partnering with different brands to cash in.
Mascots, which are the original brand ambassadors, arguably stand a better chance at capturing attention than AI avatars cosplaying as humans. If paid partnerships are a must, people want to be convinced of what to buy by living, breathing billboards, not GenAI.
Will the Real Singapore Flag Please Stand Up
National Day visuals usually come and go with little drama, but this year’s efforts from both the public and private sectors had people raising their eyebrows.
First came a viral photo of a printed National Day banner with a flag without the stars and crescent moon, making it look suspiciously like Indonesia’s flag. Then came more examples of obvious mistakes, including jumbled-up stars and flags with the canton placed on the wrong side.
This netizen put together a hall of shame library.
The private sector also coughed out AI slop:
UOB's current TMRW page
by u/peacemaker2007 in SingaporeRaw
Look, I get it. National Day is just another holiday where birthday banners need to be put up, as has been the case for the past 60 years. However, there is a sense of irony that visuals celebrating the one holiday dedicated to national unity have now been hijacked by inanimate technology.
The stakes for these visuals may be relatively low, but brands that embraced this approach have arguably taken a hit in authenticity. They need to recalibrate and better understand public tolerance for, and acceptance of, GenAI-generated visuals before going all in.
Most puzzlingly, when these brands were supposed to use AI in the most uncontroversial way—conducting grammar and spell checks—they did not. Hence we got gems such as “61th”.
Sidebar: In Malaysia’s recent state elections, GenAI was heavily used in campaign visuals, from backdrops to social media posters. Even manifesto collaterals were not spared. Singapore’s GE2025 escaped this because GenAI had not yet gone into overdrive , but it would be interesting to see how GenAI will be featured, if at all, in the next GE, especially given the recent pushback against such content.
AI can be a great tool when used appropriately, but we must never forget the “artificial” in AI. Despite all its computing power, it still struggles to accurately render flags and national symbols. Until that changes, we can expect more embarrassing moments like these from brands that fail to do their due diligence before publishing AI-generated visuals.
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