Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON is yet to work out appropriate sanctions against Sterling Bank for exposing what industry regarded as insensitive and provocative Easter advertisement, a close source has said.
The source close to the council said APCON is still investigating the infraction by Sterling Bank which generated public outcry and would likely come out with sanctions. “It is not sure when this will happen”, he said.
Sterling Bank had during the recent Easter celebration shared an Easter good will message which compared the resurrection of Jesus Christ to locally made bread in Nigeria called “Agege Bread”. The message said “Like Agege Bread, He rose.” This was followed with a picture of bread divided into two halves.
A statement signed by APCON Chief Executive, Olalekan Fadolapo, said it observed with displeasure the insensitive and provocative Easter celebration advertisement by Sterling Bank Plc which compared the resurrection of Christ with Agege Bread.
APCON therefore said it will take necessary action to ensure that Sterling Bank is sanctioned for the exposure of such offensive advertisement according to law.
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Though APCON code, according to the source, exempts goodwill messages for vetting, but in this case the council is relying on the strength that the Sterling Bank message was offensive to many people and it generated public uproar.
In his view, Bolaji Abimbola, the CEO of Indigo Communication, a PR agency based in Lagos put it directly that the Ad was actually in bad taste considering the sensitivity of religion surrounding the subject matter.
“The Easter season is of sober reflection as it is a period to commiserate the death and the resurrection of Jesus, which is celebrated by Christians worldwide. No pun should have been used in such communication. It would be seen as a desecration of the religion and can snowball into severe chaos”.
Abimbola however commended the bank for steps it has taken to calm situation. “The bank has done well by first apologizing, but I think that is just the first step; the leadership of the bank needs to take it a step further by having multi-level engagement with the leaders of the Christian faith in Nigeria through CAN as well as with regulatory agencies and other relevant stakeholders.
Also reacting, Muyiwa Akintunde is CEO of Leap Communications and Publisher of Breezy News said the advert shouldn’t have been conceived, not to talk of being approved. He said religion is a sensitive issue, and more so in our clime. “Those behind the Sterling Bank brand have lived long enough to know that such content would attract opprobrium. They therefore can be accused of being deliberate in their action”.
