Nigerian grocery store Bokku Mart has deleted a controversial video posted for advertising and apologised to Nigerians.
The video, currently raising dust online, was posted on its platform, but some of the influencer’s words did not go down well with Nigerians, who called out the grocery store operator.
In the video, the influencer/vlogger said: “I can get beans and Garri Ijebu at Bokku without any Omo Igbo cheating me.”
An X user by the name ‘Pharaoh’ reacted: “Imagine a brand as big as Bokku Mart relying on ethnic stereotyping and slurs for marketing. The whole marketing team sat down, watched this video, approved it and not one person thought ‘without any omo Igbo cheating me’ was wrong???? You people need to do better.”
Osondu Chibuzo said, “People who were taught from childhood to hate the Igbo tribe. I don’t even expect @bokkumart to issue a statement on this disgraceful advertisement. Do I even patronise them? Justrite and Jendol are closer to me, and both have better customer service.”
Another user by the name, Drew, wrote: “That’s exactly what I discussed with my guy yesterday, with the way tribalism war is in this country, you guys still come up with this rubbish. Omo na wah for them sha.”
Ola wrote: “Funniest thing, cheating is not tribal based. Those who want to cheat you will cheat you regardless of where they come from. However, this is too sensitive to put out there. Your marketing could still have been successfully done without adding the omo Igbo comment.”
Chisom Miracle writes: “Bokku Mart is relying on tribalism and tribalistic statements for effective marketing and sales. This will definitely backfire. Why denigrate a whole tribe to cheats and also use the convenient slur ‘omo Igbo’?”
When The Guardian reached to the franchise, it said: “We are sorry, very sorry, an influencer use the words and she’s been cautioned, we’ve taken it down everywhere and do not condone this at all, if anything, we are very pro Nigerian in our dealings and will never intentionally hurt any arm of what makes us a beautiful country.”
