A London-based Islamic fintech start-up has been hung out to dry by the ad watchdog after branding a Transport for London poster campaign – featuring the burning of US dollars and Euro banknotes – “offensive”.
Wahed Invest, which provides financial services in keeping with Islamic traditions of ethical banking and investing, launched the campaign in September last year, featuring a number of figures setting fire to the currencies with text displaying messages including “Join the Money Revolution”, “Withdraw from Exploitation” and “Withdraw from Riba”.
However, Advertising Standards Authroity received 75 complaints over the six posters, challenging whether the ads broke the CAP Code.
In defence, the fintech argued that the posters were “thought-provoking” and “not offensive”, insisting the burning of banknotes was designed to be a striking illustration of how inflation was negatively affecting the value of currencies and was not intended to be critical of US or European economics.
While Wahed did concede that the currencies could be seen as symbols of national identity, it maintained that depictions of burning currencies were an effective reference to instances of hyperinflation that saw people burning excess worthless cash. It also pointed to phrases such as “money to burn” and money “burning a hole in one’s pocket”.
However, the ASA was not impressed with this defence, pointing out that the CAP Code states advertising must not contain anything likely to cause offence on grounds including race and nationality.
And, while the regulator acknowledged the intention behind the ads was not to cause offence, nonetheless the sentiment was likely to be misconstrued, presenting a legitimate risk that viewers would misunderstand the intended meaning.
The watchdog also noted that the ads placement in London’s public transportation system, which is frequented by tourists and visitors from around the world, presented a further risk that people from the cultures depicted would see and be offended by them.
The ASA ruled: “Although we acknowledged Wahed Invest’s view that they had not directly criticised a specific group, and that depictions of burning banknotes were commonly encountered, we considered the burning of banknotes would have caused serious offence to some viewers. We therefore concluded that the ads were likely to cause serious offence.”
The watchdog ruled the ads must not appear again and warned Wahed about any future activity.
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