BRITS have slammed controversial advertisements cropping up on the London Underground, despite the fact that junk food ads remain banned.
Snaps of posters promoting an Islamic preacher as well as the Communist Party were shared online yesterday with concerns over what is considered acceptable to promote on public transport.
A legitimate ad for a finance startup features Islamic preacher Ismail ibn Musa Menk, who has been banned from other countries and attracted controversy over his comments.
Brits have hit out at the fact that advertising unhealthy food on the Underground is restricted, but this has been considered acceptable.
Another is a makeshift ad for the Revolutionary Communist Party, which has been slipped into one of the advertising spaces on board a train.
The ads for startup company Wahed show Menk alongside images of burning US dollar bills.
The preacher is not welcome in Denmark or Singapore, the latter due to accusations that his teachings were “segregationist and divisive”.
Derogatory comments that LGBT people were “worse than animals” led to his tour of UK universities also being cancelled.
However, Brits have hit out at Transport for London and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan over the decision to allow the ads to be displayed.
In 2019, Khan enforced a ban on advertising junk food on buses and trains in an attempt to tackle childhood obesity.
This followed a ban on ads which could be seen to promote pressure to conform to an unhealthy or unrealistic body image.
The homemade poster for the Revolutionary Communist Party reads in large letters: “Are you a communist? Join the RCP.”
Despite not being an official ad sanctioned by Transport for London, people have still been quick to criticise it.
An image of the ad for Wahed was shared to social media yesterday with the caption: “In Sadiq Khan’s London, ads displaying: Junk food = Banned. ‘Body shaming’ = Banned. Artisan cheese = Banned.
“Ad featuring Islamic hate preacher, Ismail ibn Musa Menk, who is banned in other countries. = Perfectly fine. ‘Inclusive’ London now includes seeing hate preachers.
It has since received over 18,000 likes and more than 580 comments from outraged Brits keen to share their views.
One wrote: “Khan’s London: where common sense gets banned and hypocrisy gets a free pass. Who needs priorities when you have ‘inclusivity’? Time to wake up.”
A second commented: “Completely inappropriate and unacceptable and Starmer needs to demand these posters are removed immediately.”
Another said: “This can’t be true, must be a wind up or AI generated surely.”
A fourth wrote: “When is somebody going to do something about this man?”
Another added: “Had an ad campaign pulled from the tube years ago for having a model show too much skin. But this is fine, what a s**thole London has become.”
Speaking today, a spokesperson for Transport for London said: “This advert was reviewed and found to comply with our advertising policy, which reflects legal requirements.
“The Mayor has no involvement in approving or deciding which ads run on the TfL network.”
