Fact Check: Viral ‘Hijab Shampoo Ad’ is a Parody for headscarf brand, not a real shampoo commercial

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A Malaysian shampoo advertisement has recently gone viral. The commercial features a young woman wearing a hijab, who is seen shampooing her head without ever removing it. Throughout the video, she applies shampoo and massages it over the fabric, suggesting a hair care routine that doesn’t involve actually revealing or interacting with her hair.

Many users shared the short clip with captions, making communal jibes. One widely circulated caption reads: “Malaysian shampoo ad. Why is she shampooing her hijab?”

Multiple users have shared similar posts, which can be seen here and here.

The same video has been circulated in previous years as well, often accompanied by similar communal jibes.

Fact Check

Upon investigating the claim, we found it to be misleading. The video in question was produced by a content creator named Mr The All Shared and was first uploaded to their YouTube channel on April 17. At the time stamp of 0:43 sec, a similar visual from the viral video can be seen.

Screenshot from a YouTube video titled ‘Only 90s Kids Know These Types of Ads…’ uploaded by MTAS Production, showing a Malaysian Muslim woman smiling while gently applying shampoo foam over her hijab. The woman wears a beige headscarf, and the scene is brightly lit, symbolizing freshness. The video has over 780,000 views and was published on April 17, 2017. English subtitles at the bottom translate the Malay text as ‘for the scalp and hair stay healthy.’ The ad has drawn attention online with questions about why the woman is shampooing her hijab, sparking debates and misunderstandings, though the commercial is metaphorical and respects cultural values. The video reflects nostalgic content with the tagline ‘Only 90s Kids Know,’ combining traditional advertising styles with contemporary representation.
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The video is a parody ad inspired by an old commercial from the shampoo brand Sunsilk, but it was actually produced for a headscarf company called Escarves. In the video description, Mr The All Shared lists Escarves under the “Klien” section—meaning “client.”

Additionally, Mr The All Shared shared a post on Facebook, stating: “Our Escarves HQ video has already reached international levels. Here is a marketing success!”

Screenshot from a YouTube video titled ‘Only 90s Kids Know These Types of Ads…’ uploaded by MTAS Production, showing a Malaysian Muslim woman smiling while gently applying shampoo foam over her hijab. The woman wears a beige headscarf, and the scene is brightly lit, symbolizing freshness. The video has over 780,000 views and was published on April 17, 2017. English subtitles at the bottom translate the Malay text as ‘for the scalp and hair stay healthy.’ The ad has drawn attention online with questions about why the woman is shampooing her hijab, sparking debates and misunderstandings, though the commercial is metaphorical and respects cultural values. The video reflects nostalgic content with the tagline ‘Only 90s Kids Know,’ combining traditional advertising styles with contemporary representation.
Facebook link

Furthermore, the brand’s name appears at the end of the video, clearly indicating that it was an ad created for Escarves, not a shampoo brand.

Conclusion

The viral Malaysian shampoo ad showing a woman shampooing over her hijab is not an actual advertisement for a shampoo brand, as widely claimed. It is a parody ad created by Mr The All Shared for a Malaysian headscarf company named Escarves. The misleading narrative has resurfaced online with communal undertones.

DFRAC Analysis: Misleading