The famed globe structure went missing… daw.
On November 14, 2021, a video was posted on Facebook by a user named Chester Tangonan. In the said 20 second clip, a motorcycle rider “recorded” a helicopter carrying the mall’s famous globe.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=963502261190528&id=100025922901370
As the clip went viral, the Mall of Asia management released a statement on their official Twitter account. According to the mall, they “are working with authorities in investigating the MOA Globe incident.”
Minutes later, the story was picked up by online news portal Rappler and posted the same statement on social media. However, netizens were quick to point out that the posts bear the hashtag BrandRap.
According to Rappler’s website, Brandrap is the platform where they “collaborate with partners to create stories that are informative, relevant, and effective.” Essentially, content under Brandrap are sponsored or branded stories.
As a result, the phrases Brandrap and MOA Globe trended at sixth and top spots on Twitter Philippines as of 1:15am.
Currently, several posts have also spread across social media contiaining photos of the globe’s rotunda boarded up as of yesterday afternoon. Many have also speculated that the globe will be replaced by a giant meatball named “Tito Ball,” as seen in a post of IKEA Philippines recently.
In a separate post, IKEA also announced that it will open its first store in the Philippines at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City is set to open on November 25, 2021.
UPDATE:
Pasay City Police has since clarified that there were no security issues reported to them by the Mall of Asia management. Also, they confirmed that the globe is currently undergoing maintenance works.
The mall has also issued a new statement, saying that the globe will be put under “red notice,” a hint of it being a promotional material for upcoming Netflix film ‘Red Notice.’ Netflix has also posted the now viral video on their social media account.