Sterling Bank, one of Nigeria’s commercial banks, will be sanctioned for a controversial Easter advertising that compares Jesus Christ’s resurrection to Agege Bread.
Olalekan Fadolapo, the Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), announced this in a statement.
The council expressed its disappointment at the disrespectful and offensive Easter celebration advertising that was uploaded on social media, according to the statement.
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The council stated that the advertising had not been submitted to its panel for approval and that it will be sanctioned for its “disgusting” message.
The statement reads: “The Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) has observed with displeasure the insensitive and provocative Easter celebration advertisement by Sterling Bank Plc which compared the resurrection of Christ with Agege Bread.
“The distasteful advertisement was neither submitted nor approved for exposure by the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP), the statutory Panel charged with the responsibility of ensuring that advertisements conform with the prevailing laws of the federation as well as the code of ethics of Advertising in Nigeria.
“APCON will take necessary actions to ensure that Sterling Bank is sanctioned for the exposure of such offensive advertisement according to law and that no religious belief or faith is ridiculed or any blasphemous advertisement exposed in any guise.”
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Anaedoonline.ng reports that the bank in celebrating Easter posted an Easter message on social media platforms and also sent its customers via email.
The message, which has now been deleted and replaced with an apology post, contained a picture of a golden-brown bread divided into two with the caption ‘Like Agege Bread, He Rose!”
Following the development, the Easter message sparked public outrage on Twitter with most Nigerians condemning the bank for diminishing the essence of Easter, while some found the post funny.
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