Protest : Australian firm MLA portrays Lord Ganesha in meat ad

Appeal to devout Hindus

An Australian company ‘Meat and Livestock Australia’ (MLA) has insulted Shri Ganesh, highly revered deity of billions of Hindus, through its advertisement promoting its product. Using Hindu deity for commercial purpose and that too for promoting meat has hurt religious sentiments of millions of Hindus and hence Hindus should lawfully protest against this insult of Shri Ganesh. Hindus should boycott MLA completely and compel them to withdraw insulting advt and to issue unconditional apology to Hindus !

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Hindus shocked at Australia Advt. Bureau clearing insensitive ad despite worldwide condemnation

Hindus and others, who denounced the highly insensitive ad of Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), are further shocked at Advertising Standards Bureau’s (ASB) reportedly green signal to apparently reckless marketing strategies of MLA, which had already upset Hindu and other faith communities worldwide.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that it clearly signaled that the current system of so-called advertising “self-regulation” was not effectively working in Australia and it was time for it to go. This case had highlighted that integrity of this advertising self-regulation system was highly doubtful.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged Mitch Fifield, Australia Minister for Communications and the Arts, to move the advertising regulation to his department and dismiss ASB, which had blatantly failed to deliver despite the high community resentment.

Rajan Zed noted that with the majority of the Bureau Board members coming from marketing background, ASB seemed to have turned deaf ear to the feelings of the communities and instead favored the professional colleagues in advertising. Moreover, the Code also needed to be thoroughly revisited.

Zed further said that “impartial” ASB chose to ignore its own “Aim of self-regulation”, which stated: The aim of self-regulation is to maintain high advertising standards and ensure consumer trust and protection for the benefit of all of the community.

ASB decisions like this would result in further dent into falling consumer confidence in and respect for general standards of advertising in Australia. ASB seemed to have lost its “sense of social responsibility to the consumer and society as a whole”, Rajan Zed indicated.

Zed suggested Australian media operators not to accept this ad on their respective platforms as a goodwill gesture to the hurt sentiments of the community.

Rajan Zed also urged Australia Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce to impose fine on “producer-owned” MLA, which should not be in the business of playing with the sentiments of communities with the public money. MLA seemed to be rebuffing its own “Code of Business Conduct and Ethics”, which included using “MLA’s assets appropriately” and acting “responsibly with respect to members, stakeholders, customers, suppliers, competitors, the community and others”; by spending public funds on insensitive and unnecessary lamb ad which had perturbed the Hindu and other faith communities world over.

With ad campaigns like MLA’s “You Never Lamb Alone”, which had created more negative vibe than positive one, Australia should be concerned about expanding its meat and livestock exports to over 100 countries and producers should be worried about profitability, Zed pointed out.

The Meat and Livestock Australia insult Shri Ganesh through its advertisement

Melbourne : A controversial advertisement meant for the promotion of lamb meat featuring Hindu deity Lord Ganesha has enraged members of the Hindu community in Australia and overseas.

The members of the Hindu community have now demanded a ban on the campaign.

The advertisement, which was released on September 4, by the Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) has already been referred to the Australian Standards Bureau, according to PTI.

Nitin Vashisht, the spokesman of the Hindu community in Australia, has demanded the withdrawal of the controversial advertisement which features Lord Ganesha and other divinities promoting consumption of lamb meat.

Besides Lord Ganesha, other divinities including Jesus, Buddha, Thor and Zeus have been shown sitting around a dining table tucking into lamb at a barbecue in the ad.

The ad says “to lamb – the meat we can all eat”.

Reacting to it, Nitin Vashisht said the Ganesha ad is highly ‘insensitive’.

“He is shown as … Eating lamb and looking for a new marketing strategy for himself. [That] is really very insensitive to the community”, Vashisht was quoted as saying.

People have also reacted angrily to the ad on social media.

Following the controversy, MLA Group Marketing Manager Andrew Howie said the new campaign continues under the ‘You Never Lamb Alone’ banner and showed no matter your beliefs, background or persuasion, everyone can unite over lamb.

“We know that lamb has been the meat that brings everyone together for decades, and what better way to celebrate the product than over a modern spring barbecue,” Howie said.

“Our marketing aims to reach more consumers by making lamb more relevant to a diverse, modern Australia. This time around we are highlighting the diversity of religious beliefs, backgrounds and dietary requirements in modern Australia.

“Ultimately, our marketing activities are designed to showcase quality Australian lamb and return value to levy- payers by growing the demand for the product,” Howie said.

Source : Zee News