NPC probing ‘intrusive’ Jollibee Christmas ads on Viber
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has sought explanations from Jollibee Foods Corp. and messaging platform Viber over a holiday advertising campaign that caused branded digital stickers to appear automatically in private chats.
In a statement on Tuesday, the NPC said there had been complaints from Viber users about Jollibee’s “Buo ang Saya ng Pasko” marketing campaign, which triggered a festive sticker and greeting whenever the word “Christmas” was typed in conversations.
This sticker, bearing the message “Have a Jolly Christmas!” alongside the Jollibee logo, appeared in both chat groups and personal messages during the holiday period.
“It appears that branded marketing materials, including automated greetings and digital stickers, have appeared within private chat interfaces, leading to questions regarding the boundaries of digital marketing and the unsolicited processing of personal data,” the NPC said.
The commission said it was still determining whether the campaign involved the processing of data and, if so, whether it complied with the Data Privacy Act of 2012.
Under the law, personal information controllers must ensure that direct marketing activities involving personal data comply with the principles of transparency, legitimate purpose and proportionality.
‘Excessive, intrusive’
Jollibee’s campaign drew criticism online, with Alfamart CEO Harvey Ong calling it “unwanted, excessive and intrusive.”
“They should have stayed off private space,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post. “No brand has the right to be a part of private conversations. Period.”
Ong, who had served as vice president for marketing at Jollibee, said the campaign should serve as a lesson for marketing practitioners.
“Brands must know their limits. No matter how beloved they are,” he added.
The NPC reiterated that campaigns involving personal data require freely given consent from users.
“In such cases, consent must be specific and freely given, and data subjects must be afforded the right to object to the processing of their information for direct marketing purposes,” the commission said.
