Liberation Army Against Freedom!

December 25, 2007 7:02 AM

Friends and foes, witness the true firepower of the Liberation Army Against Freedom. We have been amassing a fearsome arsenal, and soon the world will tremble at the Mother of All (Fireworks) Rockets.

Some people have been offended by this series of Dutch fireworks safety adverts, such as Saad Saraf, the chief executive of multicultural marketing specialists Media Reach Advertising:

"What is the campaign hoping to achieve by depicting a negative stereotype of the Muslim community in a fireworks advert? ... Are the producers aware that the actors in the advert are speaking in an Iraqi accent; with the current state of affairs in Iraq and the loss of lives as a result of suicide bombing, I question, what were the creatives thinking?," said Saraf.

On the other hand, Inayat Bunglawala, the assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, thought they were fine:

"I thought they were very humorous public safety films ... Obviously there will always be some who find it to be in bad taste, but I thought it was done light-heartedly and funny and with clear educational value."

posted by adrianhon (12 comments total)

I thought they were well made and funny, specially the first one where the guy get overexcited and starts shooting in the air :D My relatives are all from the Middle East and I can't imagine that they would consider these ads offensive.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 7:56 AM on December 25, 2007

I'm not sure I MRA's criticism. Am I supposed to be offended by videos that make fun of the KKK because I'd fall into roughly the same ethnic background as its members?

Suspected Terrorists, SNL
posted by odinsdream at 8:24 AM on December 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

Don't mention the war.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 8:31 AM on December 25, 2007

I laughed. And thanks for that link, odinsdream...haven't seen that one in a while and it still just slays me!
posted by airgirl at 9:14 AM on December 25, 2007

"What is the campaign hoping to achieve by depicting a negative stereotype of the Muslim community in a fireworks advert?"


Yalla ! It's the most vicious, useless, pernicious, insulting, racist, homophobic and polluting advert since the heights reached by Mohammad Said Sahhaf. Everybody with enough respect for religion knows that the Islamic New Year starts on 20th January 2008 at 20:00 ICT (Infidel Central Time), so this reference to fireworks with more than a month in advance is insulting as it falls nears the birthdate of jesus christ ! Also who needs occidental fireworks, when one has russian landmines ?
posted by elpapacito at 9:27 AM on December 25, 2007

odinsdream, that's a good point.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 9:37 AM on December 25, 2007

Meh, I thought they were pretty funny.
posted by delmoi at 10:14 AM on December 25, 2007

I'm not sure I MRA's criticism. Am I supposed to be offended by videos that make fun of the KKK because I'd fall into roughly the same ethnic background as its members?

To play the Devil's Advocate, there isn't a sizeable chunk of the population who believes that all white people are KKK members.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:50 AM on December 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

I question, what were the creatives thinking

Maybe they were thinking that there are actually a lot of Arabs speaking with an Iraqi dialect who are intent on causing mayhem with explosives and maybe they deserve a bit of mocking.
posted by three blind mice at 3:18 PM on December 25, 2007

This reminds me of MrMoonPie's humongous cluster of sparklers, which contrary to the normally peaceful nature of sparkers, nearly took out the entire eastern Capitol Hill neighborhood.
posted by exogenous at 3:27 PM on December 25, 2007

believes that all white people are KKK members.

but only for the sheets.
posted by jonmc at 3:44 PM on December 25, 2007

"What is the campaign hoping to achieve by depicting a negative stereotype of the Muslim community in a fireworks advert?"

Epic lulz?
posted by mullingitover at 5:05 PM on December 25, 2007