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.”
Truetells Nigeria 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.
#AgegeBread advert: Tweets knock Sterling Bank’s apology
Sterling Bank Plc has been slammed on Twitter after its Easter message to Nigerians was considered offensive and insensitive.
The message had read, “Like Agege Bread, He rose,” with a photo showing bread and a “Happy Easter” caption.
This was considered offensive by many who wondered if Sterling Bank was equating bread with Jesus who is the reason for the Easter season.
The bank later pulled down the message from its social media pages and issued another one that said, “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. We humbly celebrate His resurrection, the defeat of death and the hope of salvation.”
The new message was accompanied by a flyer that contained an apology which many also found offensive and insincere.
“…let the one who has never sinned cast the first stone. For our recent errors, we sincerely apologise. Forgive us in the spirit of Easter,” the bank wrote.
A Twitter user identified as @Oyoyonwa1 said, “Seriously? Let him who has not sinned cast the first stone? And this is supposed to be some kind of apology? Who approves these things?”
@dinaudoh said, “You need to overhaul your creative department as these Easter posts have been in bad taste, insensitive and rather disturbing. For a bank that claims to care to be about each customer, you shouldn’t disparage any religion or its symbols. DO BETTER!!!”
@NwaezeMma said, “Your apology is not sincere. Try it with other religion and see. Do right.”
@AdaGOkoli wrote, “If this is an apology, then it will not rise with Nigerians.”
@Moolaoye said, “Whoever told you that forgiveness is by arrogance and not by repentance. This is not a message to seek forgiveness but a message to justify! Don’t send a message that you know nothing about. #blaspehemous.”
Sterling Bank Plc, which is a full service national commercial bank is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Its shares trade under the Banking sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange with the symbol STERLNBANK. On Reuters and Bloomberg terminals, it is identified as STERLNB.LG and STERLNBA:NL respectively.