The advertising regulator in a statement signed by the APCON
Registrar and Chief Executive, Mr Olalekan Fadolapo, on Monday disclosed that it
has observed with displeasure the insensitive and provocative Easter
celebration advertisement by Sterling Bank Plc which compared the resurrection
of Christ with Agege Bread.
APCON noted that 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.
The apex advertising regulator stated that 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.
The controversial advert which has been receiving public
outcry and condemnation showed puffed, golden brown, halved Agege Bread with
the caption, ‘Like Agege Bread. He Rose! Happy Easter’.
Reacting to APCON’s decision, Mr. Nosakhare Uwadiae, Esq, a Media, Advertising, Commercial and
Intellectual Property Law Expert, said APCON’s action is Commendable and its style
generally is reactive and not proactive.
According to Mr. Nosakhare, APCON needs to be more proactive,
for example, since the new AISOP regulations came out how many stakeholder
parliament has APCON held specifically to dialogue on progress on enforcement
of AISOP, who has complied, reason for non compliance and how to increase
compliance.
“It is over 6 months since AISOP came into being and there
is no formal report to the industry on compliance and penalties for non
compliance.”
“Can this Sterling Bank (Advertiser) be used as a case study to further ensure compliance with
AISOP”, which of the articles in AISOP are receiving more levels of Compliance
and why he said.
He further stressed that high levels of compliance with
AISOP will lower levels of non compliance with APCON regulations on contents of
Advert.
Beyond wielding the Big Stick, APCON should use this
Sterling Bank case to push compliance to AISOP and general advertising
regulation such that it raises compliance level astronomically, also to drive
home the BIGGER PICTURE not just react
to the advert.
It is a litmus test for APCON and AISOP, Mr. Nosakhare said.
Other reactions
Rev’d Femi Babajide wrote: “#Take it down NOW! #SterlingBank. I’m a graphic artist and creative designer; I understood the concepts of content creation and the implications of illustrative media. The content and concept used by Sterling bank Plc to promote her brand and commemorate ’Easter’ is an unfortunate publicity error and it will hurt the establishment for a longtime.
Mma Ijele Chikwelu believes the brand was trying to be comical with the concept, but to Obinna ‘bank’ Nwaorgu, “This is utterly disgusting, tasteless and almost seems to me like a deliberate (sic) thing…. This is classless”.
Tola Arinola, detests the message too. In her post, Tola highlighted the need to communicate to the customers in unambiguous manner.