Charles Teves
Motorcycle ride-hailing company Angkas issued an apology on Friday after receiving backlash for an advertisement accused of “promoting incest.”
In a post on social media that has since been removed, Angkas introduced a promo code “ANGKASDADDY” accompanied by the text, “Stepdad, I’m stuck (in traffic).”
Following the backlash, Angkas apologized on Twitter.
“We sincerely apologize for our recent post that caused offense to members of our community. It was not our intention, nor will we ever support or even permit even the slightest disregard for women’s rights and human dignity.”
“We won’t always get things done perfectly, but we in Angkas will always listen to our community. And we will always aim to serve with honesty, humility, and respect.”
The post was made viral due to netizen Reycel Hyacenth Bendaña calling out the company.
“This is a bad ad. You’re a male-led and male-dominated company promoting incest and unhealthy sexual power dynamics in an ad,” she wrote.
“Do you even know how common sexual assault is by stepfathers in the Philippines?”
Bendaña subsequently contacted George Royeca, Chief Executive Officer of Angkas, and verified that the advertisement had been removed.
Dalhin kong twitter kasi nakakaimbyerna kayo ang aga-aga @angkas
This is a bad ad. You're a male-led and male-dominated company promoting incest and unhealthy sexual power dynamics in an ad.
Umayos nga kayo. pic.twitter.com/59ynuoMKzz
— Reycel Hyacenth Nacario Bendaña (@hyabendana) June 9, 2023
Grab Philippines also took shots at Angkas.
Grab passive-aggressively dragging Angkas. https://t.co/U0Rf0SOeTi
— 🍉Demontitang Aczar mrsunlawyer @Spoutible @mas.to (@mrsunlawyer) June 9, 2023
Other netizens called it out too.
https://twitter.com/MeganeMino/status/1667123136909942784?s=20
I feel sick to the core seeing how @angkas turned this into a marketing scheme.
Which audience exactly was Angkas targeting in this ad? The fact that a company as big as Angkas can target audience that takes incest rape as an inside joke reflects how grave the problem is.
— Ash Presto 💜 (@sosyolohija) June 9, 2023
https://twitter.com/rach_fx/status/1666992934221406208?s=20
that is super messed up! thank you for advocating for this disturbing ad to be taken down. incest and sexual assault should never ever ever be normalized. sino man nakaisip niyan at nag approve ng ad na yan – capital F and capital Y
— joyjoyjoyjoy (@brandnewclarity) June 9, 2023
A lot to unpack here. Basically angkas is promoting, again, the very prevalent machismo culture in PH. That’s not all, dinagdagan pa ng bahid ng incest. Because why stop at one shitty thing no? Hay pilipinas. https://t.co/bWVDHjuyIE
— len (@linilinilenneh) June 9, 2023
Angkas advertised something similar in 2019 which also gained backlash.
They got called out by PNP in 2019 for a similarly distasteful campaign https://t.co/VmILNKjml7 pic.twitter.com/Z1K1Fs2m3O
— Kapamilya On-Demand (@kodupdate) June 9, 2023
