RHODE POP-UP IN MALL OF AFRICA BRANDED FAKE

A fake Rhode pop-up store in Johannesburg’s Mall of Africa has caused a massive viral uproar after being branded as fake.

Several content creators flocked to the Midrand shopping centre when the news broke that a pop-up shop selling Rhode beauty products had opened inside.

Rhode is a beauty line recently launched by model Hailey Bieber.

Fans innocently believed that the pop-up shop was the beauty line’s introduction into the South African market.

Several influencers shared content after they visited the shop on Saturday. One TikTok user @noya.noy managed to get 86,000 likes and 1.5 million views.

Content like this created an even bigger fuss around the temporary shop with more people visiting it.

But, the news broke early on Sunday morning when one content creator returned to the shop to return a faulty product, only to discover that the shop had closed and all the products were removed.

The fake pop-up had shoppers investigating their products with many of them saying they found spelling mistakes on the products.

While many shoppers were shocked, several online users said that it was obvious that the pop-up shop was fake because no official announcements were made about it.

Meanwhile, the Mall of Africa has released a statement, saying: “Mall of Africa apologises for any inconvenience caused and remains committed to transparency and providing a positive shopping experience for all.”

Image credit: Joburg ETC