Mattathias
King of the Jungle
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 1991
Location: Atlanta
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 Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 4:20 pm Post subject: Saudi slams 'racist' Israeli Nissan ad |
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| Quote: | Gulf states may boycott the Nissan Motor Company as a result of an Israeli TV commercial that depicts Saudis angered by a fuel-efficient car, a Saudi official has said.
The new campaign by Renault-Nissan caused an uproar in the Gulf when it showed a group of Saudi oil barons screaming and attacking the Renault-Nissan vehicle.
The Saudis are shown leaving a hotel and encountering the new, fuel-efficient vehicle. One man pounds his fists on the car and is then held back by his companions as he shouts at it, "Hawks should peck at you day and night."
At the end of the commercial, the voice-over says, "It's clear the oil companies won't like you."
"It's my opinion that Nissan made a huge error by igniting these [racist] instincts," official Hani al-Wafa told MBC TV, a Saudi-run station headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. "We need to apply punishments... against these things. In order for Nissan to keep its interests in the region, it must apologize."
Israeli advertising and marketing agency Inbar Merhav Shaked, which developed the Renault-Nissan campaign, declined to comment.
In January, Israel partnered with Project Better Place, a company that aims to reduce petroleum dependency through the use of electric cars.
Through the government initiative, Israel hopes to mass-market electric vehicles by 2011. Denmark is also investing in electric cars at a national level.
Project Better Place partnered with Renault-Nissan to provide the electric vehicles featured in the new commercial.
"It's a humorous campaign that was loved by both the Jewish and Arab worlds," Daniella Ribenbach, the spokeswoman for Nissan in Israel, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. She declined to make any further comments on the matter.
Hadar Goldman, co-owner of the Zarmon Goldman advertising agency in Tel Aviv, said he hoped Saudis would tolerate humorous and exaggerated commercials.
"If we have a sense of humor, I expect them to have one as well," he said... |
Link
You can watch the actual commercial if you like by following the link. (Dialogue is in Hebrew.)
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