Model Tricked Into Auditioning For Local Fashion Brand Simply Seeking To ‘Rent A Crowd’ At Event

By Lara Kramer  •  05 Jul 2022 in News

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Freelance model Teeha Rahman took to Twitter yesterday to share the harrowing tale of how she was deceived to audition as the “New Face of Rizman Ruzaini”.

Teeha explained her experience in a series of tweets which have now garnered nearly 4,000 retweets and mass attention from netizens.

i nk share my experienced i msuk “New Face of Rizman Ruzaini”
auditioned on saturday 25th june, i nampak the post frm my model groups whatsapp, so kami pun nk join la skli

post dia tkde specific requirements pun. just time, date, place & the winning price, 10k

— TR🦋 (@teeharhmn) July 4, 2022

In the first tweet, she asserted that she had attended the audition on Saturday (June 25), upon becoming aware of it via a WhatsApp group she was part of, along with other models who joined her for the effort.

She went on to say that contestants of various ages were present at the scene as they were no explicit requirements placed for the audition. According to her, over 100 participants were involved.

During the audition, Teeha was simply asked to introduce herself, and received a pink congratulatory note shortly after, indicating that she was shortlisted to become the new face of Rizman Ruzaini (RR) . She clarified that many others had received the same after a mere introduction as well.

5 days later, the chosen participants were invited via text message to a launch event in line with the anniversary of RR’s fashion label. The text message also stated that the winner of the audition, who will receive an award of RM10,000, would be announced at the event.

On the day of the event (July 2), the participants dressed to the nines to attend the launch, some clad in RR-branded hijabs purchased specially for the event as mandated by organisers. Many brought their families along with them.

2 days after, saturday 2nd july, ckup seminggu slpas audition day, we contestants attended the event w all dresses up bcs some say they’ve been told yg kena pakai hijab RR, so ada yg last min beli utk majlis tu, ada yg dtg bawa 1 family, mak ayah anak2 smua kaum kluarga

— TR🦋 (@teeharhmn) July 4, 2022

At the event, Teeha, as well as the other puzzled participants, asked the crew what they needed to do, only to be told that they were given free rein and only had to await the big announcement.

Teeha then compared the audition to other local programmes such as Dewi Remaja which were a lot more challenging in comparison.

Next, the official announcement finally came around, crowning a woman supposedly sporting a major resemblance to the founder’s wife.

This is when Teeha realised that she had fallen for a deceitful marketing ploy and was only called to the event to make up the crowd. There was no speech, no acknowledgement towards the shortlisted persons, and zero appreciation.

kami beramai2 dibwh ibarat crowd yg memeriahkan majlis shj 🥲😂 tiada sebarang speech yg mngatakan brp yg shortlisted, ataupun menyatakan berisan2 contestants yg hadir utk ambil gmbr bersama bg mnunjukksn appreciation post, nothing. no goodies bag or anything

— TR🦋 (@teeharhmn) July 4, 2022

Teeha concluded her story by noting that she initially found the marketing tactic very deceitful and well thought-out. However, to her, the experience is now humorous.

“I assume that the others share the same feeling. This is the truth, the reality,” said the model.

Netizens have also shared their perspectives, stating that the dishonest act was extremely unfair of the fashion brand, and a waste of time for the participants and their supportive families.

JUICE has reached out to Rizman Ruzaini regarding this matter, but no comment has been obtained at the moment.