KUALA LUMPUR: Money sure isn’t everything for actress Sharifah Amani.
Knowing full well that as celebrities, they are sought after for all kinds of product endorsements, the 31-year-old artiste isn’t one to be easily swayed by fortune.
Amani recently tweeted how at one time she had turned down a whopping RM1 million endorsement deal.
“Pernah skali a whitening product nak kasi kita bayaran setuja untuk jadi duta dia. Sedap nya duit tu I thought. Then my Mama tegur, ‘Awak tu cerah pasal genes bukan pasal cream. Orang Asia mana ada putih macam Mat Salleh? Product tu ada bleach, bahaya untuk kesihatan.”
(Once I was tempted by an offer to endorse a whitening product with a RM1 million fee. But my mother reminded me that the product may have bleaching agent, which can be harmful.)
“I don’t think I’ve ever endorsed anything without using it for myself first. My Mama taught me if I were to tell people that this particular product was good I had to make sure for myself first. Itu tanggungjawab kita. Nak yakin orang untuk beli kita kena yakin dulu,” tweeted the star of Sepet, Gubra and Mukhsin.
Her tweet came after the recent hotly-debated subject of how some celebrities would simply endorse a product without researching further.
Amani’s stand at keeping her integrity intact, despite being lured by material gain, received compliments from her followers, including fellow celebrity Yuna and UK-based surgeon Dr Amalina Bakri.
@yunamusic replied: “yes!! me too!! exact same offer, exact same discussion with my mom, exact thought. At least.. i know i have a stand... money is nice, but its not everything”
@DrAmalinaBakri: “Thank you @sharifahamani, as you are a celebrity, lots of young girls out there will look up to you as their idol, we need more celebrities to be responsible like you, thank you.”