Six advertising posters for an Islamic investment platform showing burning euro and dollar banknotes have been banned from London's transport network by the British advertising regulator, which judges them “seriously offensive”. “People from the United States or Eurozone countries” can consider “the currency of their country as culturally important and as a symbol of their national identity”explains the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), in its decision published Wednesday January 8.
Advertisements from the online platform Wahed Invest show a Muslim preacher or the Russian MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, index finger pointing to the sky, surrounded by flaming notes, with the slogans: “Take part in the money revolution”, “End exploitation” or even “Withdraw from the “riba””. Depending on the platform, “riba” East “an Arabic word meaning “excess” and which is commonly used to describe the prohibition of interest under Islamic law”it is emphasized in the ASA decision.
“We understand that images such as those featured in our campaign can provoke strong reactions”reacted the company after this decision.
More than 70 complaints
The British authority said it had received 75 complaints after the appearance of these advertisements last September and October on London transport, particularly the underground. “We considered that burning banknotes could seriously offend certain audiences. We therefore concluded that the adverts were likely to be seriously offensive”justifies the regulator on Wednesday.
On its website, Wahed Invest declares that it offers “halal investments” compliant with “strictest Islamic principles”. “Our imagery aimed to highlight, visually and metaphorically, the impact of inflation on savings. Many of our clients choose not to earn interest on their savings due to religious prohibitions, but they still feel the effects of inflation, which “burns” their purchasing power.the company argued again on Wednesday. The ASA, for its part, emphasized that “in the case of the US dollars depicted, the advertisements showed (…) the words “United States of America“in flames”.
Source: Lemonde