APCON Set To Sanction Sterling Bank Over Offensive Easter Message

The Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria  (APCON) has vowed to sanction Sterling Bank Plc for releasing a message found to be offensive to Christians celebrating Easter.

Franktalknow had reported that the bank posted an advertising material for Easter and in the message, it compared Jesus Christ with Agege Bread.

“Like Agege Bread, He Rose! Happy Easter,” the short message to its customers had read.

But this generated outrage among many of their customers, who saw the message as insensitive.

Reacting to the situation, the advertising regulatory body, APCON said that the Sterling Bank’s ad material was indeed “insensitive and provocative”.

In a statement signed by APCON’s Registrar/Chief Executive, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, the agency said that the ad was not submitted for approval by the team saddled with the responsibility to vet adverts by practitioners.

The statement read, “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.”

Source: Franktalknow.com