Pat Stevens/
The Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) has threatened to sanction Sterling Bank Plc for its Easter message which appeared to be offensive to Christians.
The bank had posted a graphical message on Easter Sunday in which it compared Jesus Christ to Agege Bread.
“Like Agege Bread, He Rose! Happy Easter,” the short message to its customers had read.
This, however, generated outrage among many of the bank’s customers, who saw the message as insensitive.
Reacting to the development, the advertising regulatory body said the Sterling Bank’s ad material was indeed “insensitive and provocative”.
In a statement signed by its Registrar/Chief Executive, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, APCON said that the ad was not submitted for approval by the team saddled with the responsibility to vet adverts by practitioners.
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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