ARCON to Sanction Peak milk over controversial Easter ad
By Oghale Mafuru
In line with its regulatory mandate to ensure responsible advertising through strict adherence to the advertising Code of Practice, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, ARCON will be instituting legal sanctions against FrieslandCampina WAMCO, owners of the Peak Milk brand, over its controversial Easter advert which has elicited outrage from the Christian community.
Speaking exclusively to MARKETING EDGE in a telephone interview, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, the Director General of the apex advertising regulatory agencies expressed displeasure over the insensitivity of the advertisement which he confirmed was not vetted by the agency before exposure.
While stressing the need to align advertising and marketing communication messages to the cultural and religious nuances of the people, the ARCON boss stated that the agency will act in accordance with the dictates of the law to serve as a deterrent to other brand owners.
He said: “The apology is an afterthought. The first issue is that the 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.
“Second issue is that even where materials are exempted from vetting, that material must comply with minimum standards of practice. So, the material crossed the path of religious sensitivity. The material was not vetted so we will definitely issue sanctions”.
Peak milk Easter advert was posted on its social media handles depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It attracted the condemnation of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, describing the advert as “Offensive, insensitive and unacceptable. The Christian body also threatened to boycott products from the company.
In an apology letter which was addressed to the CAN President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, by Mrs. Ore Famurewa, Executive Director (Corporate Affairs) of the company, the Easter post was not intended to cause any offense.
“We acknowledge the sensitivity of the social media post considering the sobriety of the season. It was neither intended to make light of the significance of the season nor to inordinately exploit the unmatched sacrifice of Jesus Christ” the statement reads.
Recall that last year, a similar controversial creative was posted by Sterling Bank on its social media platforms which alluded that Jesus Christ arose like “Agege Bread”.
The advert which compared the resurrection of Jesus Christ with “Agege Bread” received backlash from Nigerians especially Christians who referred to the advert as insensitive and malicious.
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