Well, many of you have been wondering and asking questions like “Where did Mr. Brandwashed go? He’s been so quiet lately.” “Nothing else to post already?” or assuming things like “Dia takut orang nak bantai dia, so dia ‘lay low’ kejap.” or “I think someone must have got to him already, that’s why he is so quiet.”
Truth is, we got in touch with Mr. Brandwashed himself and asked him why has he been so quiet lately. He answered:-
“Sorry for the late reply. I was too busy with my real life.”
Well besides asking him that, we got on to more serious questions. Check out our second installment of the #PARODYorPIRACY as we got a MASSES exclusive interview with the one and only Mr. Brandwashed himself, Malaysia’s latest vigilante for our local streetwear scene. Enjoy.
WARNING: Answers are very direct and forward.
1. We know you would like to remain anonymous, but is it possible you tell us abit yourself? Your hair color, your height, your weight, your gender, your day job, which part of Malaysia are you from? Anything at all.
I’m pretty much as normal as everybody else. 7-foot tall, well-toned body, wavy blonde hair, blue eyes, mechanical limbs. I love t-shirts, all day all night. I don’t actually represent any state because I’m a nomad. I move a lot from Perlis to Sabah. I got hos in different area codes.
2. Why the name BRANDWASHED? why not Bruce Wayne? or Clark Kent? or Peter Parker?
Those are posers. Bruce Wayne acts tough but cries before he sleeps, Clark Kent has girl problems and Peter Parker is a sissy nerd. As everybody knows “brainwashed” is a state where a person is accepting anything blindly such as political ideas, Illuminati crap, illegal substance in cakes, a tabloid’s front page or a Nigerian love mail. Blindly accepting from a specific source because they think the source is trustable or they just like it too much. Obviously ‘brandwashed’ is a wordplay of ‘brainwashed’. When you buy some brand’s t-shirt eventhough you already know that they copied another brand’s design, you’re brandwashed. When you still wanna buy that ripoff design eventhough your friends showed you some evidence, you’re brandwashed. When the owner of the copied design is pissed by the copycat brand and left a pissy comment on the copycat’s Instagram and you still wanna buy the ripoff design, you are definitely brandwashed. And a moron.
3. We all know what is the purpose of you starting the IG account ( @brandwashed_ ), but what was that defining moment that led you to do this? is there a particular reason? or a particular incident that happened that sparked this idea?
I had always talked about design theft with my buddies. Well, apparently I’m the only one who started the topic. I compared the designs, showed them the original designs, have a big laugh about the copycats in the local streetwear scene. Unfortunately not all of them agree with me. Some of them are good friends with the brand owners, pretty much one of the reasons why is that my buddies are brandwashed. That one particular moment that led to Brandwashed is when I showed my buddies some comparison pictures and one of them was like, “ah, I don’t care. Copy or not, they are all the same” and another one was, “apa apa pun, I tetap sokong Wolfgang”. Even after the shirts were featured in Brandwashed.
4. In your own personal opinion, what do you think about the current local streetwear scene in general? both good and bad. Where do you see the scene heading to?
It’s good to see more and more brands surfaced in the local streetwear scene. This will lead to healthy competition. The brands will come up with new designs that’s gonna give more choices to the customers. Sadly quantity is nothing without quality. There are few brands that’s accustomed to the act of plagiarism and ripping off their customers. Copying designs from other brands. Selling low quality material with high prices. Even the big players are doing this kind of crap. If they keep doing this, the aim of going global will go down the drain. Along with my Indian breakfast.
5. Is there a particular “FAVORITE” brand that you have your eyes on? and why?
I have my eyes on every local brand. Especially the big names. I just love it when they act real cool and creative with their ripoff designs. How they think that nobody will smell their crap eventhough it’s almost 2014 and everybody has internet access. I love it when they release some original designs and slip a couple of ripoffs in between. Why do they have to do that? Afraid if their originals don’t sell well? Where is their creativity? That’s what makes me love them so much. Creative artists/businessmen. They know how to treat their customers very well. I love them. I love them posers.
6. If you really really really had to wear any one of the brands that were featured on your IG account, which brand and which particular design would that be?
Are you shitting me? I’m not gonna wear any of those ripoffs. Unless you paid me good money. I’d probably take the money upfront and make you wear the shitty shirt. Wolfgang’s Hustler tee will definitely look good on you. Don’t forget to put on a sissy man-skirt.
7. If you were pulled over by a cop for speeding, would you “Tolong OR Saman”? and why? (This is one of our typical questions we ask our interviewees. TELL THE TRUTH!)
SAMAN. Smart people don’t pay for their tickets. I’d rather waste my money on food and t-shirts. I was booked like 2 months ago for expired driving license. I put on a fake signature, and said yes to everything. Haven’t paid anything until now and have no idea where I put my ticket. Oh and I haven’t renewed my license. RM60/year, right? For what? To keep the popo fat? With RM60 you can buy 20 fried chicken wings, 10 home made grilled burgers, 2 plates of steak or 2 grilled burgers at Chili’s. Better put some fat on yourself than The Man. Plus, popo love to TOLONG you as long as you give him DUIT KOPI. Bastards.
8. In less than a week, your IG account has gotten more than 1k followers, and the following week you are already reaching 2k. Now you are at 3k plus. Tell us what you think about that?
It’s cool. Even my personal Instagram account don’t have that kinda numbers. I’m experiencing new things. Hundreds of people like my posts. Hundreds of comments on every post. New followers everyday. But im not doing it for the fame. I do need more followers on Brandwashed. To share my thoughts on the local streetwear scene. To open more eyes and kickstart more brains. Thousands are now paying attention to what I wanna say. Love me or hate me, you know I’m telling you the truth.
9. What impact do you think you have made on our local streetwear scene? and did it meet your initial goal when you embarked on this journey as Mr. Brandwashed?
More eyes are opened and more dirty secrets have been revealed. I think I have nailed my initial goal. But I’m not gonna stop there. The copycats aren’t gonna stop either. There will always be that one idiot with a huge ego doing that same crap over and over again. Plus, there are many other issues besides plagiarism.
10. What is your real favorite local brand? and why?
I don’t have a favourite. But I do appreciate any local brand that came up with their own ideas. I really appreciate their originality. The brands that have been keeping it real since day one without slipping in some ripoffs in between. Creativity wins.
11. Ok last one, WHO ARE YOU? (Nah you don’t have to answer that)
I am Wak Doyok.
