"Jihad" Car Commercial

[Metallixs Girl]

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A car dealership's tongue-in-cheek radio advertisement declaring "a jihad on the automotive market,'' will not be changed, the company said, despite drawing sharp criticism that the ad's content is offensive to Muslims.

Several stations rejected the spot from Dennis Mitsubishi, which boasts that sales representatives wearing "burqas'' -- the head-to-toe traditional dress for some Islamic women -- will sell vehicles that can "comfortably seat 12 jihadists in the back.''

Jihad is a holy war waged by Muslims in defence of Islam.

"We firmly believe the ad does not in any way disrespect any religion or culture, but we feel, I guess, that maybe poking a little fun at radical extremists is fair game,'' dealership president Keith Dennis said on Saturday. "It was our intention to craft something around some of the buzzwords of the day and give everyone a good chuckle and be a little bit of a tension reliever.''

While Dennis defended the ad as a harmless attempt to bring levity to a serious situation, the Columbus chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called it disrespectful.

"Using that as a promotional pitch when so many are dying from the criminal activity of suicide bombers, that's not funny,'' chapter president Asma Mobin-Uddin said. "I don't think it's appropriate when it causes real pain. It exploits or promotes misunderstanding in terms already misunderstood or misused.''

In the ad, Dennis talks about "launching a jihad on the automotive market.''

"Our prices are lower than the evil-doers' every day. Just ask the Pope!'' the ad says. "Friday is fatwa Friday, with free rubber swords for the kiddies.''

A fatwa is a religious edict.

Some radio stations are balking at the dealership's attempt to poke fun at extremists.

"With no disrespect to their creativity or their desire to build business, everything we're about is promoting the values of diversity. To air things of that sort would go against our mission statement,'' said Jeff Wilson, general manager of three Radio One stations in Columbus.

The dealership claims nothing in the ad is intended to promote a negative stereotype of Islam. A group that previewed the ad didn't raise any objections, although no one from the group was Muslim, Dennis said.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories

Hmm, dunno what to think of this... Everything else is allowed to have satire, no reason Islam should be any different, or else things wouldn't be equal... Thoughts?

[Heald]

Jesus and God are oft-used to advertise products but no one really cares.

Yes, it isn't equal that Muslims get special treatment but the only reason they do is because they're crazy and therefore if you incite them, they will do what they do best - blow up embassies and burn everything American in sight. The reason why people would take issue with it is because it is going to incite aggressive behaviour. Once Muslims stop acting like petulant infants and throwing tantrums all the fucking time, then we'll be allowed to make fun of them.

[Metallixs Girl]

Also, they probably did it simply because it's the "hot" topic of the year and would get them attention and sales. Although a bit tactless is it any different than the "blackface" art that used to be used? "Mammie" cookie jars? When people get bored of it, it'll pass, and every group has something like this at one point, right?

[Dark Scizor]

It's like that (I think it was a Polo) advert with a suicide bomber who failed because the car was tiny but mighty or something like that.

[Magmar]

Or that stunt in Jackass 2. That shit was funny

[Dark-San]

Once Muslims stop acting like petulant infants and throwing tantrums all the ****ing time, then we'll be allowed to make fun of them.

[b][size=3]Actually not all. So it is not good to make general comments. But it doesn't really hurt to us if we respect other people's beliefs.

[Heald]

I didn't mean to generalise, but case in point:

- Jesus is lampooned and made fun of on a regular basis
- Judaism and aspects of Judaism e.g. Kosher (particularly pork), rabbis, bris etc are also lampooned and made fun of on a regular basis

Where were the riots? Did Israel have thousands of Jews burning down embassies and setting fire to flags? Did Italy and the Vatican provide land for the training of terrorists to perform similar plots to 11th September? No. A two-bit Danish newspaper prints a stupid cartoon and half the Muslim world goes nuts? That's messed up.

Everytime a Christian or a Christian group makes an outcry of some sort, whether it be about whether their religion is being made fun of or about Harry Potter and Pokemon cards, the vast majority of the Christian world shuns their outcry as it is demeaning and will bring disrepute to their religion.

Hell, look at the Sikhs. Sikhism can be regarded as a less peaceful religion than Islam. Islam stresses peace and compassion, whereas Sikhism stresses discipline and orthodox Sikhs believe it is their God-given right to carry blades. But when many Western countries such as the UK and France banned turbans and other Sikh dress-codes, which, on the whole, is a greater infringement on one's religious beliefs than a Danish newspaper drawing a stupid cartoon, did Sikh riot and starting burning embassies and flags? No, they used the legal system to win back their rights.

As far as I know, when the Danish cartoons were published or when the Pope accidently insulted Islam, there was no call for legal action or even just acceptance that people are entitled to express their own opinion. Instead, there was called for Jihad, fatwa, decapitation and embassy and flag burning. The reason why Muslims get away with it is because the majority of Muslims who do not participate in these acts of terror and violence do not condemn it, and if they do not condemn such wanton destruction then they must silently condone it. I know there are Muslims out there who do not agree with actions taken by extremists, but obviously they do not feel passionate enough about it to speak up against it. If they did, we would definitely see less acts of terror.