Fortunately, many individuals and communities have banded together and launched creative initiatives to help one another in this time of crisis. Among them is an initiative from several Indonesian public figures to endorse local SMEs' products for free on their Instagram accounts to help the businesses reach more customers.

Comedian and filmmaker Ernest Prakasa, for instance, who has 1.7 million followers, started #MakanApaHariIni (what to eat today), inviting food and beverage business owners in Jakarta to email him with information about their products and he will then choose three to be endorsed for free on his Instagram feed every day. As of Friday, Ernest posted 21 endorsements and attracted thousands of likes.

 

 

 

 

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#MakanApaHariIni, Day 21! 1. Buat warga Pluit dan sekitarnya, @bakmiesuikiaw27 siap melayani pesan antar menu bakmi beserta kelengkapannya yang aduhai. . 2. Walau lokasinya di Jakarta Barat, tapi @angryfoods punya menu Barat merger sama Timur. Lokasinya di Tanjung Duren guys! . 3. Cocok buat cuaca mendung nih, kuah panas pedes sedep. @baso_aci_bewok ada di Pejaten, Jakarta Selatan. . Kalo ada yang menarik, silakan pesan antar pake ojol & jangan lupa kasih tip buat abang/embaknya ya. ❤️ . PS: Punya usaha kuliner di Jakarta & pengen gw promoin gratis? Kirim e-mail ke makan.apa.hari.ini.jakarta@gmail.com berisikan: alamat, akun IG, foto-foto lokasi dan menu andalan.

A post shared by Ernest Prakasa (@ernestprakasa) on Apr 16, 2020 at 10:47pm PDT

Read also: Indonesian fashion designers help sew, donate protective gear for medical workers

Content creators such as David Dwi Praharsa's @depepedia, Hans Danial and Julia and Marius' @anakjajan have dedicated one post on their Instagram feeds for SMEs to promote their business in the comment section. 

 

 

 

 

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NETWORKING POST . I know it’s a tough time for business right now and with this quarantine period we’re left with uncertainty, kebetulan aku punya banyak kenalan di dunia F&B dan semua bilang omset terjun payung, beberapa ada yang bleeding karena bahkan gak bisa nutup cost & bayar gaji karyawan, salah satu cara yang mereka lakukan untuk survive adalah lewat delivery service and di post ini aku mau ajak kalian yang punya usaha/teman kalian yang punya usaha/rekomendasi kalian di kolom komentar dengan format sebagai berikut: (NAMA KOTA) - (NAMA RESTO/ONLINE SHOP/AKUN IG) - (Available di Grab/GoFood/Delivery Sendiri) - (Promo yang sedang berjalan) . Contoh: JAKARTA - McD - Grab/GoFood - Buy 1 Get 1 via GoPay (ini contoh ya) . I hope I can use this platform for good sake but I need your help, please share this post ke business owners/brands/online shops yang kalian tau, let’s do this! We’re all in this together! 🤗 . Thank you @depepedia for inspiring me ❤️

A post shared by 👑 HANS DANIALS 👑 (@eatandtreats) on Mar 22, 2020 at 11:26pm PDT

Actress Vebby Palwinta also joined the movement by opening free endorsement reviews on her Instagram Stories, while content creator Alexander Thian launched an initiative where he chooses one food product, purchases it and sends it to his followers every day for 10 days, while also letting the SMEs promote their business in the comment section.

"I know it’s not much, but I do hope I can help a bit," he said on the post. (gis/kes)

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