PC Tube bosses pull poster for featuring word 'Muslim'

by Sarah Woods Brand Republic 31-Mar-06, 09:00

LONDON - Posters promoting a new TV drama on FX, which feature the world 'Muslim', has been removed from the London Underground, after Tube bosses worried that it might offend Islam, despite the show's lead character being a Muslim.

The ad, which was created internally by News Corporation's digital channel FX and is part of a £1m campaign to promote a new US drama series 'Sleeper Cell'. The poster shows a man on a mobile phone with the strapline "America's latest hero is a Muslim straight out of jail".

Bosses at London Underground have said the ad was offensive and asked for the words "is a Muslim" to be removed.

A London Underground spokesperson said: "This was clearly intended to be sensationalist and could give offence.

"Following consultation with Viacom, which manages advertising on the Tube, it was decided to ask for the words 'is a Muslim' to be removed.

"This decision was taken in line with our standard policies, which seek to avoid gratuitously insulting large groups of Londoners."

The new ad campaign will incorporate TV spots, press, outdoor and online advertising for 'Sleeper Cell', which is a thriller based around a fundamentalist terror group planning an attack in LA, and an FBI agent tasked with infiltrating the Al-Qaeda cell before they strike.

A spokesman for FX said: "We always aim to pick out the main point of difference and interest about a show to promote it, to engage with potential viewers and 'Sleeper Cell' is no exception.

"The line 'America's latest hero is a Muslim straight out of prison' is meant to sum up the basis of the show's plot. The show's hero is put in prison in order to gain access to the cell he aims to investigate and eventually expose."

FX said that the ad was in no way intended to cause offence or upset to Muslims.

"We ran the creative by the Advertising Standards Authority, which advised us we were not in breach of the British Code of Advertising so it has come as a real surprise that the London Underground has refused to run it," the spokesman said.

The ad can be viewed here.

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