By Emmanuel Nduka
The Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), on Monday said it will sanction Sterling Bank over its offensive Easter message that likened the resurrection of Jesus Christ to Agege bread.
It would be recalled that the institution had failed to take into cognisance, religious diversity and sensitivity, before coining out the write up which many Christians have termed ‘demeaning’ to the faith of Christianity, especially on the holiest day in all of Christendom.
While Agege bread which is popular in Lagos State is resurrected by bromate – a banned chemical for bread production in Nigeria, Christians share the belief that Jesus was resurrected by divine powers.
In a statement signed by its Chief Executive, Olalekan Fadolapo, the regulatory body said the “distasteful advertisement was neither submitted nor approved for exposure by the Advertising Standards Panel” before the bank put it out on its social media platforms.
APCON also noted that ASP was the “statutory panel charged with the responsibility of ensuring that advertisements conform to the prevailing laws of the federation as well as the code of ethics of advertising in Nigeria.”
The body thus promised to “take necessary actions to ensure that sterling bank is sanctioned for the exposure of such offensive advertisment according to law and that no religious belief or faith is ridiculed or any blasphemous advertisment exposed in any guise.”
According to APCON, the bank “engaged a ‘roadside’ consultant to create the copy that has been found to have breached the advertising law in Nigeria.”
Despite the sweetness of Agege bread, Nigerian health officials have in the past labeled it unhealthy for consumption because of claims that it contains bromate, which has been widely regarded as harmful to human health.
The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), prohibited its use in bread in 2004 due to its toxicity and carcinogenicity in humans.
The bank has since issued an apology.
