Dubai: Car maker BMW has pulled a commerial after residents complained on social media that the TV ad insulted the UAE national anthem.
The advert sparked a controversy on social networking sites, prompting a car dealer to drop it from all platforms, a senior manager said.
The 30-second TV advertisement showed Al Ain football team singing the UAE national anthem before a match, when midway, they run across the field and out of the stadium, and into the parking lot – driving off with latest models of BMW luxury cars.
Several people on social media sites said the ad insinuated that players preferred cars over patriotism by showing them running well before the anthem ended.
The call for the ban, accompanied with the Arabic hashtag #suspend_bmw_ads, was retweeted hundreds of times, with many users expressing their dissatisfaction with the promotional footage.
Social media users also debated the intent of the ad, with @lilmissmeow1992 saying, “so shameful, these players don’t deserve the privileges of being Emiratis!” while @OdaiJO, said: “Whoa! Twitter is off the roof over the new BMW ad in the UAE. Stupid idea in my opinion.” Another Twitter user, @Khulodz, said: “Unacceptable, how would anyone agree to shot this ad.”
According to local media reports, one football player who appeared in the ad said he was unaware of the production team’s intent when they edited the footage. The player, who declined to be named, explained that the team had initially sang to the full version of the UAE national anthem. He further said that those involved were surprised to see themselves stopping midway through the lyrics and running to the cars.
A source form the Al Ain Football club told Gulf News: “The Al Ain Football Club had nothing to do with the advertisement. The players merely asked for permission to participate in the advertisement whose contents the club was not familiar with.”
Lawyer Ali Abdullah Al Hosani said the controversial segment of the advertisement insults the UAE’s national anthem. “The publishing and penal laws prohibit the insult of the UAE’s national symbols which include the anthem and the UAE flag which are also prohibited from being used for marketing purposes. Somebody from the BMW company should be held accountable for the offensive content.”
When contacted by Gulf News, Arno Husselmann, the General Manager for Abu Dhabi Motors, said: “We have noted the recent concerns regarding our TV Commercial with the Al Ain Football Club. As proud and loyal members of the UAE community, it was never our intention to cause any offence. We are an Emirati-owned company and so always aim to celebrate and promote the UAE’s rich values and culture, which are rightfully recognised around the world for excellence across all aspects of daily life.
“Out of respect for the feedback received from the community, we have removed the commercial from all platforms and are currently making a modification to ensure there can be no further unintentional reference drawn from it. The new version will be shared online in due course,” he said in a statement.
Two boards dissolved
The boards of Al Ain football club and Al Ain Club Investment Company have been dissolved. The two decisions to dissolve the boards were issued by Shaikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, First Deputy Chairman of Al Ain Club and First Deputy Chairman of the Honorary Board.
