KUALA LUMPUR: Celebrity couple Wawa Zainal and Aeril Zafrel denied exploiting victimised individuals such as Umisya Mazlan to boost the sales of their products.
Umisya, who is currently serving as the power couple's brand ambassador for their hijab line, was recently embroiled in a scandal.
Her husband had secretly married 19-year-old influencer Marissa Dania as his second wife in Thailand which became the talk of the town.
Aeril said that he and his wife never intended to take advantage of anyone and that they sincerely wanted to help Umisya.
"We would normally have artistes or influencers to help us out with our monthly promotions. We have not leveraged her 'case' to highlight our products.
"On the assumption that we've taken on a 'victimised personality', we are not aware if she is even a victim or not," he said in a Harian Metro report today.
Wawa reiterated that they are not riding on the controversy to exploit the viral issue involving Umisya and Marissa as a marketing strategy.
"Actually, it was a coincidence. We had already firmed up the agreement with Misya a long time ago. We have not used her as a marketing tool. Not at all.
"At the same time, we really want to help her too. The other party already has many job offers.
"We want her to stand out more too so that there will be more offers for her after this," she said.
Wawa had appointed Umisya as the face of the latest head scarf collection from her Wawa Scarves brand for three months.
The appointment was warmly received by many since at the time, Umisya was facing a difficult situation when the secret marriage of her husband, Aslam, to Marissa, who is also the daughter of celebrities Norman Hakim and Abby Abadi, became a hot issue.
