Brand Bonang suffers major beating

Johannesburg - There's no denying that Bonang Matheba has been the target of much social media hate over the past few days. Ever since she was fingered as the 'other woman' by DJ Zinhle, brand Bonang has suffered a major blow. 

With major endorsement deals with Revlon and Woolworths, and presenting jobs at Metro FM and Afternoon Express, questions have been asked about Bonang damaging their brands.

The SABC's official stance on the matter is that it's not their issue... yet. "This is a personal matter and we are not involved," spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago told The Juice. This, even though there have been repeated calls to take Bonang off air.

"If it starts affecting listenership, then that's a different story. Then we look into it, hold discussions and could take action," Kaizer adds. 

But what about the brand damage? Well, that's when it becomes tricky. There is no finite rule to brand damage, and if it becomes a concern, then various meetings are held at a higher level. "Nothing can be based on assumption. We will work with facts, and as it stands, this is not an SABC matter," he adds.

Fair enough, but brands like Woolworths and Revlon might not think the same. A quick search on Twitter shows that Revlon has been tagged in various derogatory mentions about the AKA and Bonang scandal. In just 24 hours after the scandal broke, there were over 68 000 tweets about Bonang alone, most of them relating to the alleged affair with AKA.

As a Revlon brand ambassador, Bonang is expected to uphold certain expectations, and there is no doubt that this story has been brought to their attention. But would that mean taking action?

PR guru, Melanie Ramjee says that something like this isn't likely to affect brand Bonang. "She is a huge brand and I think there will be minimal damage. People forget things easily. While it's a talking point now, everyone moves on. If brands haven't taken action by now, then there will likely be no reaction."

On social media, Bonang has ignored the comments, but don't think she doesn't know what is going on. Insiders tell us she is aware of the comments and it's taking its toll. "She is very emotional. She does read tweets and this has been hugely upsetting to her."