Israeli Nissan ad drives Saudis crazy

Posted By Patrick Fitzgerald Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 12:09 PM Share

Nissan-Renault is finding itself in hot water for an advertisement for its new Tiida that recently aired on Israeli television. The ad, which depicts a group of Saudis attacking the fuel-efficient car, has drawn the ire of Arab states for its alleged racism:

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."

Though a Nissan spokeswoman in Israel defended the spot as humorous, the company has apparently distanced itself from the ad and canceled the campaign, which had been developed by an Israeli marketing firm. Of course, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, the ad lives on online:

Nissan is not new to the risqué viral video business. The company may have gone too far with this one, although I'm not sure if there would have been such an outcry had the ad aired anywhere other than Israel.

For what it's worth, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is of Lebanese descent.

EXPLORE:MIDDLE EAST, BUSINESS, MEDIA
 

SSIF21

3:28 PM ET

August 20, 2008

Racist Commercials

It is absolutely HORRIBLE for the Saudis to be victimized like this. After all, they don't have a racist bone in *their* bodies. I mean, what has the world come to--the poor people elect to pretend that it's the 12th century and others make shameless fun of them!
 

KHALID

6:49 PM ET

August 20, 2008

I forgot to add the

I forgot to add the depiction of Arabs and irrational, easily excitable and violent. That's a constant gripe Arab Americans and Canadians have with the media.
 

KHALID

6:48 PM ET

August 20, 2008

th

Arab-Americans would have complained about the ad if it were aired in the United States. It is mildly offensive. The concern wouldn't be so much towards the feelings of Saudis though. It would be more about the portrayal of Arabs as immoral and greed oil sheikhs when most Arabs are actually quite poor and don't have oil. It would be viewed in the same light as the cartoon depictions of Arabs during the 1970's and 80's. Arabs in the diaspora would not be happy about this at all.
 

MATHCON

4:34 AM ET

August 21, 2008

Russian ad

This ad could have been aired in a country other than Israel because the video above is a Russian version. I have seen the Israeli ad on youtube but the ad shown here seems to have just a short subtitle in Herbrew in the Beginning and in the End. Anyhow I have to say that "Foreign Policy" has taken an ad from a russian tv channel in Israel, so it hasn't been aired outside of Israel as far as I know.
 

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