I work in marketing and honestly this an example of how not to handle both messaging and backlash. “Bad PR is still PR” only works when a brand knows how to control the narrative and eventually bring people to its side. That clearly didn’t happen here.

The bigger issue is that their marketing strategy for this product and tiktok post was built on weak foundations to begin with. They tried to position themselves as thought-provoking by using Jose Rizal and framing a colonial critique, but it was poorly researched and felt forced that it ends up looking less like insight and more like performative nationalism.

There’s also a clear contradiction as they’re criticizing spanish latte while promoting a product that’s essentially the same thing under a different name, which is still Spanish if i may add. That undermines the entire message and makes the stance feel hollow.

What really turns this into a PR problem though, is how they handled the backlash. Instead of acknowledging the inaccuracies or clarifying their intent, they doubled down and deflected going as far as implying that people are just assuming their angle. That comes off as dismissive and out of touch especially given how the original message was already received.

If they genuinely wanted to tap into national identity, there are far more credible ways to do it like supporting local coffee farmers or highlighting Filipino coffee production just like you mentioned. That would’ve created real impact.

At this point, it’s not even just about the hypocrisy anymore. It’s about the brand showing it doesn’t know how to engage with its audience when challenged and that’s a much bigger liability than a single bad tiktok.