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NTUC Income stunt backfires after actress misleads Singapore into thinking she is retiring

Rebecca Lim announces she is not retiring

Rebecca Lim announces she is not retiring

A campaign by NTUC Income featuring Rebecca Lim has backfired after the Mediacorp artiste falsely announced in social media that she was retiring, but this turned out to be a publicity stunt to promote the insurance company’s retirement products.

Media outlets including Straits Times and Mediacorp’s own websites TODAY and Channel NewsAsia reported the news, but later removed or changed their stories after it emerged that Lim was not moving on from Mediacorp – Lim’s announcement was part of an advertising campaign for NTUC Income to encourage Singaporeans to “start retiring”.

An ad, created by BBH Singapore, emerged on Friday as Lim admitted that she was actually not retiring, but had signed up for a NTUC Income retirement plan.

The response to the announcement was not well received by all, with posters on YouTube and Facebook claiming they had their feelings “cheated” by the stunt. Another pronounced, in the comment thread beneath the above video on YouTube, “Pls retire la.” Some supported her, claiming that the stunt had raised awareness of the importance of saving for retirement in Singapore.

In another video, Lim talks about her own “retirement journey”.

BBH has handled NTUC’s advertising since 2008, the first time the company hired a creative agency-of-record.

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