The Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) said it will sanction Sterling Bank Plc over its pprovocative Easter advert comparing the resurrection of Christ with the rising of Agege Bread.
The bank, in the now-deleted social media post over the weekend, had shared an advert showing a puffed, golden brown, halved Agege Bread with the caption, “Like Agege Bread, He Rose… Happy Easter”.
The advert had attracted criticisms with many social media users, mostly Christians, lambasting Sterling Bank over the denigratory comparison.
The bank had deleted the post and subsequently uploaded another copy of an opened tomb significant of Christ’s departure from the grave and added the caption, “…let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.”
In a statement on Monday titled, ‘Sterling Bank Agege Bread Easter Advertisement’, APCON condemned the action of the bank which it said was blasphemous.
APCON stated the bank would also be sanctioned for its failure to submit the ad material to the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP) for approval, before exposure.
It read, “The Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria 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, 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.”
ALSO READ: APCON To Start Charging Nigerians ₦25,000 Fee For Any Advertisement On Social Media
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