‘Forbidden love’ woman fears for her safety
The supposedly unique love story of 23-year-old "Mark" and his 47-year-old fiancee "Audrey" as told on a Facebook page touched the hearts of many in Singapore.
However, netizens were outraged when they learned on the day of the couple's supposed wedding last week that the elaborate story was in fact a viral marketing campaign for an insurance company.
Speaking to Lianhe Wanbao, "Audrey", who declined to reveal her real name, said that she was afraid to leave her house for fear of being recognised for the online hoax. She was also worried for the safety of her children.
Since the latest update on the Facebook page, she said she has received unkind comments and even threats from anonymous netizens, one of whom even said: "Don't let me find out where you live."
"Audrey" told the same paper that she has been working as a freelance actress, and this assignment was just like any other.
She added that she could not reveal the name of the company that hired her, or the amount she was paid for the job due to the terms of her contract.
When asked if she regretted taking up this assignment, she gave a resounding "yes", but admitted that the backlash was out of her control.
She wished that netizens would understand that she was only doing her job, and that she did not intend to deceive the public.
To date, no company has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the viral campaign.
According to Wanbao, the company is afraid of the backlash from angry netizens after reportedly losing the public's trust.
One commenter, Lee Rou Xuan, wrote on the Facebook page: "What a way to deal with an issue. I don't trust the insurance company that is behind all this stupid advertising campaign. Till now, it still does not own up to this mess that it has created. I will definitely not buy insurance from it cos if anything happened to me, they go into MIA."
