Toni Gonzaga was chosen as the new endorser of a shopping platform, according to media reports.
The brand itself, however, has not posted an update about it yet.
Shopee Philippines previously hinted about Toni as its new celebrity endorser in a teaser video on September 28.
In the video, Shopee announced that the “big reveal” will happen on September 29 at 3 p.m.
“FINALLY, makikilala niyo na siya (wink emoji) Drop your guesses and CATCH HER tomorrow at 3PM for the big reveal!” the post reads.
FINALLY, makikilala niyo na siya 😉
Drop your guesses and CATCH HER tomorrow at 3PM for the big reveal! #ShopeePH pic.twitter.com/Xy6F3IC5cs
— Shopee Philippines (@ShopeePH) September 28, 2022
After 3 p.m., however, the e-commerce platform did not post about the “big reveal.”
So far, its latest post on its social media channels is still the teaser video and other promotions.
Some Filipinos who have waited for the “big reveal” were dismayed that no new endorser was introduced on its social media pages.
Others speculated that the previous backlash prompted Shopee to push back from posting anything about Toni online.
“Jusko, ni hindi ma-post ng Shopee na ‘yung enabler ang bagong brand ambassador nila, waley sa Twitter account, waley sa FB page,” author Jerry Gracio said.
“Iba ata time zone lol,” market analyst John Paul Tanyag tweeted.
“Wait so ito na last post ni Shopee kahit nareveal na ngayon na si shabay shabay talaga new endorser nila? Hiyang hiya na ba mga atih?” one user said.
“Hala asan na yung 3 pm big reveal ng Shopee haha bat parang di na natuloy?” another user asked.
In the past, the shopping platform used its social media accounts to announce and unveil its celebrity endorsers.
Here are Shopee’s posts that introduced Marian Rivera and Kim Chiu as new brand endorsers for big shopping festivals.
Meanwhile, during the supposed “big reveal,” what pushed through was the media event that announced Toni as part of the Shopee family.
In the event, the actress said that she was aware of the high engagement she gained on social media because of this endorsement.
Toni did not directly address the negative reactions about her and her endorsement deal with Shopee.
“Since yesterday we are trending, today we are grateful for our netizens for the mentions and engagements, they are the reasons why we are here today,” she was quoted in the report as saying.
Keywords “Shopee” and “Lazada” landed on the trending topics list on Twitter Philippines after the teaser video about the supposed “big reveal” dropped last Wednesday.
Both keywords are still on the trending topics list with 340,000 and 38,600 tweets, respectively, as of writing.
READ: Here’s why Lazada and Shopee are trending on social media at the same time
While some are happy for Toni, several social media users perceived it as a wrong choice and a bad time for Shopee to choose the actress as its celebrity endorser.
Toni has been under public scrutiny because of her political views since the 2022 election campaign season.
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The parent company Shopee recently made headlines after it reported a lay-off of its employees in Southeast Asia.
Others voiced their decision to uninstall the application altogether.
Some online users also encouraged their fellow consumers to switch to rival company “Lazada” instead.