A search for a logo for his new venture saw media personality Felix Odiwuor alias Jalang'o come under fire from a section of Kenyans on Sunday, June 28.
Jalang'o, who has recently found success with his YouTube talk show Bonga na Jalas after leaving Milele FM, had challenged graphic designers in a call for submissions on Saturday, June 27.
He posted an image of the current logo for his new venture, Jalang'o TV, and asked graphic designers who thought they could come up with a better logo to prove it.
The presenter promised Ksh10,000 for the designer who came up with the best logo. Submissions for the competition were slated to close at 6.00 p.m on Sunday, May 28.
The competition quickly gained traction with many designers participating and other Kenyans tagging talented graphic designers to join in.
On Twitter, however, the competition sparked a storm as a section of Kenyans accused Jalang'o of exploitation.
Those who criticised him claimed that the competition was a way for Jalang'o to get thousands of high-quality logos for free, describing the Ksh10,000 prize as a token gesture.
Jalang'o was yet to respond to queries made by Kenyans.co.ke that emerged from the uproar by the time of publication.
"Exploitation comes in many forms and this is the main one. Until you’ve signed a contract don’t create anything. Because now he will have thousands of free logos just at his disposal in the name of competition," wrote one Venus Cherop.
"He knows what Kenyans are going through, so someone is in real need of that Ksh10,000. He should let people charge what they see fit," argued Joy Mariga.
"You all should read and understand why you should NEVER participate in design contests," wrote Simon Karugu.
Several others, however, backed Jalang'o and argued that there was no case of exploitation as he was offering a cash reward of Ksh10,000.
"Jalang'o promises to pay Ksh10,000 for the best logo, consideration is the price paid for a promise made by one party to the other party. In addition to this, the consideration need not be adequate, it only needs to be of real value," one user by the moniker MC JB observed.
It added to a long-running debate primarily driven by Kenyan creatives on payment in 'exposure' among other allegations of exploitation.
