'Political correctness': a chain of Baku stores announces discount on black goods on Africa day
Azerbaijan celebrates Africa Day with discounts on black products
The Azerbaijani segment of social media is full of angry comments about the advertising campaign of one of the local chains of household appliances stores. The chain announced a discount on black goods on May 25 – Africa Day, celebrated all over the world. Experts and ordinary users agree that this ad is a clear example of racism.
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What happened?
“May 25th – African Freedom Day, we have discounts on selected black items. Celebrate the freedom of our friends with us and get a 50% discount”, the advertisement for the maxi.az chain of household appliances stores says.
The face of the campaign was an Azerbaijani of Cuban origin, former TV presenter José Bernardo.
The advertisement itself and the presence on the banners of the image of Jose Bernardo, in particular, caused a wave of outrage in the Azerbaijani segment of social media.
Hours later, the company removed the promotional post from its Facebook page. A promotional video from the store’s YouTube page has also disappeared.
Social media comments
“This is not an advertisement. This is real racism, this is a crime. And at the same time, a shame for the company itself”, “maxi.az, I’m ashamed of you,” social media users wrote.
There is another opinion. According to one user, “Provocative advertising campaigns have become a hallmark of this chain of stores. As they say, black PR is also PR.
Marketing expert Vugar Baba, in an interview with JAMnews, noted that he considers it wrong to celebrate African Freedom Day with discounts on black goods:
“It is unacceptable to emphasize the difference in skin color, biological characteristics. This is racism. This is unacceptable without any discussion. I regret this”.
“Surprise” for women
The same chain of stores two months ago “distinguished itself” with its advertising campaign on the eve of March 8 – International Women’s Day. Then in the company’s commercial, women were presented as servants in the house.
This caused a wave of backlash from feminists.
This video does not need any further explanatiom.
