JEEP FACES BACKLASH OVER MUSLIM IN AD
New York, 14 Rabi’ul Akhir 1436/4 Fberuary 2015 (MINA) – The inclusion of a Muslim woman in a new Super Bowl ad for the American carmaker Jeep has sparked controversy on social media, after the car company received instant backlash from conservatives who objected to the inclusion of a Muslim woman in a hijab.
The ad, set to the traditional American folk song “This Land is Your Land”, features familiar American landscapes before moving across the world, On Islam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
Immediate outrage poured out over social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. “This Land is Made for You and Me? Why didn’t that Jeep commercial show any Muslim savages beheading innocent people?” @artie_rx wrote.
“Maybe #Jeep can sell all their vehicles to MUSLIMS because good Americans shouldn’t buy them. Screw New World Order and #Jeep,” @MilamBill added.
“You better not drive that #jeep in the Arab Muslim countries. They will chop your head off,” @NotBrutonSmith added.
On YouTube, that bastion of rational thought, one user wrote: “Who is in the advertising department? Fire them. This is an American song. AMERICAN. Why showing other foreign countries? Not only that I think it’s an insult to show Muslim women, rather anything Muslim related.”
Not all users were angered with the new ad, with some praising or even giving jokes about it.
“Oh no! A Muslim is smiling in a Jeep commercial! Hurry, let’s all be offended! Only racist morons are upset by that ad. #JeepCommercial,” @enciteout tweeted.
“Muslim women and jeeps and ya’ll thought Islam said we couldn’t drive. #CreepingSharia #SuperBowl2015,” Linda Sarsour, a Brooklyn-based Palestinian activist, tweeted.
Similar controversy erupted last year when another Coke super bowl ad showed an international chorus singing “America the Beautiful” in a multitude of languages.
The ad started off being sung in English but is also sung in languages like Hindi, Arabic, and Tagalog. It highlighted the multicultural makeup of the US and even features a Muslim woman in a hijab and a gay couple.
The United States is home to a Muslim minority of between six to eight million.
A recent survey found that American Muslims are the most moderate around the world.
It also showed that US Muslims generally express strong commitment to their faith and tend not to see an inherent conflict between being devout and living in a modern society. (T/P011/P3)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
