Fashion brand Alohas turns bad publicity into viral video

Spain – Sustainable fashion brand Alohas has cleverly turned what started as a PR mishap into a viral marketing campaign.

When in 2021, model Kaia Gerber was asked what she was wearing during an interview, she accidentally misnamed the shoe brand, stating her boots were from By Far, when they were, in reality, from Alohas.

In response, the Barcelona-based footwear brand launched a tongue-in-cheek campaign in November 2023. ‘Back in 2021, mistakes were made,’ the video says. ‘But don’t feel bad for us, we’re over it now. To make amends, we designed the Kaia boots.’

The brand said it would only drop the exclusive pair named after the model if Kaia herself responded, calling on fans to share the post and tag Gerber. Six days later, the activation bared its fruits and Alohas revealed the Kaia boot. As for the video, it received over 600,000 views on Instagram.

Rather than sweeping the incident under the carpet, Alohas acted as an Elastic Brand by using humour and user-generated content to build brand recognition and loyalty.