The Advertising Practitioner Council of Nigeria (APCON) has announced that Sterling Bank Plc will face sanction over the message it posted on likening Jesus Christ’s resurrection to the rise of Agege bread.
The Chief Executive Officer of APCON, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, disclosed this in a press release.
This is preceding Sterling Bank’s message and shared post to its customers to wish them a Happy Easter celebration just during the last concluded Easter celebration, which lasted from the 15th April to 18th April 2022.
In the message sent, the Bank wrote, “Like Agege Bread, He Rose.” This did not meet the Christians so well as many controversial reactions sprang forth.
APCON described the action as a provocative and insulting Easter celebration advertisement. The advertising regulatory agency said it will ensure that the bank is sanctioned for such offensive advertisement.
See what APCON is Saying
In the Press release of APCON, the statement read, “The Advertising Practitioner Council of Nigeria (APCON) has observed with displeasure the insensitive and provocative Easter celebration advertisement by Sterling Bank Plc which compared to the resurrection of Christ with Agege Bread.
“The distasteful advertisement was neither submitted nor approved for exposure by the advertising standard panel (ASP), the statutory Panel charge with the responsibility of ensuring that advertisement conforms 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.”
Back Story
- Sterling Bank Plc sent a message to its customers and shared a post on its social media to felicitate with its customers during the recently concluded Easter Celebration.
- In its message, it likened the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the rise of Agege Bread with the quote “Like Agege Bread, He Rose”, which of course didn’t meet the Christians well.
- However, its social media follower sought for the Bank to apologize to the public for putting up a post that compared the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the rise of Agege bread on its social media page and subscribers’ mail.
- The Bank thus pulled down the post on its social media page by replacing it with; , “…Let he who has never sin cast the first stone”, Referencing the Bible verse, John 8:7, whilst stressing that it sincerely apologises for its recent error.
- The Bank added “Forgive us in the spirit of easter!”, emphasizing on the post, it wrote, “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.”
