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One of Nigeria’s commercial banks, Sterling Bank will be sanctioned for a controversial Easter advertisement likening the resurrection of Jesus Christ to Agege Bread.
The Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) made this known in a statement issued by its Registrar/Chief Executive Officer, Olalekan Fadolapo.
In the statement, the council said it observed with displeasure the insensitive and provocative Easter celebration advertisement posted on social media.
The council said the advertisement was not submitted for approval by its panel and would be sanctioned for the “distasteful” message.
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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Naija News reports that the bank in celebrating Easter posted an Easter message on social media platforms and also sent its customers via email.
The message, which has now been deleted and replaced with an apology post, contained a picture of a golden-brown bread divided into two with the caption ‘Like Agege Bread, He Rose!”
Following the development, the Easter message sparked public outrage on Twitter with most Nigerians condemning the bank for diminishing the essence of Easter, while some found the post amusing and catchy.
