Sasa’s Effort to De-stigmatize MSG
By Jingtian (Oliver) Xie
Brands with a product performance problem can be fixed by changing or adjusting the product, but if the product has a reputation problem, that is often much harder to fix. A bad reputation is often tied to consumer emotions. Monosodium Glutamate or MSG has battled with a bad reputation since the 1960s, ever since a letter submitted to the New England Journal of Medicine, which started the term “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome” and pointed the symptoms of migraines and numbness to Chinese foods and blamed its heavy use of MSG. The letter was ridiculed heavily by the medical community but the negative stigma around MSG still plagues the Chinese community long after the release of the letter.
Ever since the release of a viral video from Comedian Nigel NG, playing his alter ego, Uncle Roger. His YouTube channel has gained millions of subscribers. This growth has also attracted sponsorships. Sasa, a seasoning brand in Malaysia has quickly hopped on this platform and started sponsoring the rising comedian star Nigel Ng. The reason for this to happen is the unapologetic attitude of Nigel on his love for MSG and the continuous effort to destigmatize the use of MSG. From the initial video with his scathing review of BBC Food’s horrific recipe of egg fried rice to the newer criticism videos of other famous chefs appropriating Asian foods. They all share the commonalities of comedy and Asian foods.
This was an opportunity for Sasa to change the public’s perception of MSG. Since MSG was invented by isolating the flavor of kombu, it has heavy ties to the history of easy Asian cuisines. The umami flavor is highly sought after in some dishes, and the addition of MSG will only amplify that unique flavor.
The strategic move of Sasa is not exactly risk-free. Using a social media “influencer’s” reputation in hopes to boost their own product’s reputation can be risky. Because the brand’s reputation is also now tied to the influencer’s reputation. Nigel has recently been criticized for the use of his heavy artificial Chinese accent as reinforcing the racist stereotype behind Chinese people. This criticism is only valid if you ignore the content of his videos. His videos clearly are in support of the East Asian community and I would argue he balances comedy and character play very well despite it being a tricky area in the field of comedy. But despite this controversy, he has consistently shown respect to the East Asian community through the content of the videos and being vocal about other chefs appropriating East Asian cuisine. I hope to see the public’s perception about MSG turn to the positive side since it is a very underrated seasoning in the food world.
