Fake news causes Bata to lose RM500,000

In the clear: Grassi (centre), Selvaraj and Wong showing that the soles of Bata’s B-First shoes do not have holy verses on them during the press conference at Menara Bata in Petaling Jaya.

PETALING JAYA: Fake news resulted in shoe company Bata Primavera Sdn Bhd losing more than RM500,000 within a month after an allegation went viral about the company selling shoes with the Arabic word “Allah” formed in the pattern on the soles.

Since the controversy surfaced in cyberspace in February, Bata was forced to withdraw 70,000 pairs of the B-First school shoes from its 230 stores nationwide, said company country manager Paolo Grassi.