Citroen withdraws ad in Egypt with local singer over accusations of propaganda of harassment
Frame: ع.د-حالات واتس / YouTube
Citroen has pulled back an advertisement in Egypt after it drew widespread publicity and accusations of propaganda of harassment. The Telegraph newspaper reports.
French car manufacturer Citroen has pulled back an advertisement featuring local Egyptian singer Amr Diab after it drew a reaction from the Egyptian public. On Thursday, December 30, the company removed the video from official accounts on social networks and video hosting.
In the video, the 60-year-old pop star uses a camera in the rearview mirror of a car to secretly photograph a woman crossing the road in front of the car. The woman clearly does not consent to the photo, but Diab smiles in the frame when the photo appears on his phone. Then he invites the woman to sit in his car.
“We decide to withdraw this version of the commercial, and we sincerely apologize to anyone we may offend with this advertisement,” Citroen wrote in a statement posted on their Instagram account.
The ad appeared on social media in a country where about 90 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 39 admitted to having been harassed at least once. The survey was conducted in 2019 by the Arab Barometer Research Center.
On December 23, Citymobil introduced new rules, according to which drivers were prohibited from talking to passengers on personal topics, touching them and making compliments or sexual innuendos. The introduction of the new provisions followed the release of the podcast “The Robber's Daughter” by Anastasia Krasilnikova, in which she raised the issue of violence in taxis.
Earlier, six employees of the Tesla plant in California filed a lawsuit against the company, complaining of sexual harassment. Women associate this state of affairs in the company with the behavior of the head of Tesla, Elon Musk, who allegedly constantly made vulgar jokes.
