Seductive aroma of what?! Malaysian billboard becomes ‘butt’ of jokes

The billboard along the PLUS Highway. Photo: Fadzilah Mamat/Twitter
The billboard along the PLUS Highway. Photo: Fadzilah Mamat/Twitter

Marketers have another powerful lesson on the importance of carefully selecting fonts.

A billboard along the PLUS Highway brought much-needed laughter to the world by promising coffee drinkers a much cheekier aroma than intended: the smell of booty. Instead of declaring “Aroma panggang yang memikat (A seductive roasted aroma),” the font used for the Malay text made the second word look like “punggung,” or butt.

“Whoever design this, we need to talk about the font selection,” social media user Fadzilah Mamat said in a tweet calling attention to the ad for Super Food Marketing’s white coffee beverage.

Fadzilah told Coconuts KL that she took the photo yesterday on the PLUS Highway from Seremban to Kuala Lumpur. When she saw the billboard, she immediately saw the “butt.”

“I laughed out loud and took the photo straight away,” the 39-year-old businesswoman said.

‘Let us explain’: iQIYI sorry for embarrassing ‘Anal Malaysia’ poster

https://twitter.com/FadzilahMamat/status/1338692627311423488

 

Others offered their own reactions.

“Aroma punggung?? Weird. But maybe some people have a fetish for it,” @Nazanto replied.

Some didn’t think it was a mistake.

“That’s how they want to advertise their product. Now it’s viral on Twitter,” @Afifahdyanaa said in a retweet.

For some, the confusing typeface choice left a less-alarming impression.

“Why did I read it as aroma panggung (theatre)?” @Anisasufina wrote online.

Super Food Marketing had not yet responded to a message from Coconuts KL seeking comment as of publication time, but the font appears frequently in its marketing.

The apparent gaffe comes three months after a streaming media platform had to ass-plain its eyebrow-raising “Anal Malaysia” poster.

Other stories to check out:

‘Let us explain’: iQIYI sorry for embarrassing ‘Anal Malaysia’ poster



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