A girl’s beautiful smile was turned into nightmare fuel last week when Shell put up these posters on their gas pumpers that apparently scared the daylights out of some customers.
They might not look so bad now, but imagine coming across one of these in a quiet Shell late at night all alone, with no one else around like so.
This whole thing started when Aspan bin Rafii shared this post jokingly requesting that Shell take down the offending poster that has scared him out of his wits far too many times. To even his surprise, the post achieved 6.5k shares from other Malaysians who had suffered the same fate as he.
What Is Going On Here?
The poster was actually placed at the pump in conjunction with the “Everyday Bright Moments” campaign.
Now, the poster has turned into a photo-op hotspot, with netizens all over Malaysia eagerly taking pictures with the “Akak Botol Air” (Water bottle girl).
The news has taken the water bottle girl by surprise, a humble Shell counter girl by the name of Nor Shafila Khairussalleh, 25, who at least seems to be amused by the attention.
She is actually a service staff at Shell Tronoh, Perak and was approached about posing for the poster because she was previously featured as the face for an internal training pack.
This Ipoh girl has since expressed that she has never personally seen a customer get shocked by the poster. She said that she did not see anything special about the poster and is perplexed by how viral all of this has gone.
We managed to catch up with Nor Shafila, who is still getting accosted by droves of people keen on befriending the next ‘Gadis Nasi Lemak’.
According to her, many customers have reached out to her to share their “terkejut” (shocked) moments while refuelling, some even seemingly personifying the poster.
However many ended up having a great laugh and thanked her for making their day a little brighter as they pump petrol in their nearest Shell.
It seems to me that she is taking all of the attention in stride, always reposting the pictures taken with her poster and replying to all of the comments in good humour.
If all of this attention goes on, Shell could consider hiring her as the official face of Shell.
1. Poster-Spotting In The Wild
Of course with today’s society in the interactive age of social media, once something gains enough attention on the internet people start messing with it. The madness began when people started sharing their sightings of the poster in the Malaysian wilderness.
If I wasn’t creeped out yet, the picture above is the kicker.
Something like this casting a shadow hits just the right spot on the uncanny valley line for Mohammad Fahmi.
2. Celebrity Photo-Op Phase
Now eager to stamp their own print on the viral poster, people began taking pictures with the poster: (Hopefully without detriment to any marriages)
3. The Trolls Emerge
Then people began to mess with it, bringing out the creatives in Malaysia who apparently use their brainpower to elicit laughter.
4. Now, The Memes
Because of course there are memes. Where did you think we lived?
5. Vandalism
We do not condone these acts of destruction on private property. Really. Guys, it’s wrong. No matter how funny it is. Morals over laughs always, all the time.
If you too, would like to join the dozens in befriending Malaysia’s latest photo-op craze, you can find her on Facebook.