Muslims hate cute puppy advert
 

I really don't understand these people.

Well, that's the thing about different cultures, sometimes it is difficult to relate to them. The police should have been more careful. Personally, I see nothing wrong with showing a dog in that poster, but then again, I am not a moslem.

All I can say is McGruff is in BIG trouble. :headshake

I think the most reasonable course of action would be to inform the offended they have the right to ignore the poster or shut the fuck up and die. It's a dog. Deal with it. Yeahyeahyeah, you can't pray without taking a full bath if a dog licks you. Posters don't lick people.

If it were a poster for a product that'd be fine, but it's a poster for a universal service (i.e the non-emergency telephone line) and therefore needs to take into account the multi-cultural community which it serves. There is a diversity officer employed by the force to ensure such mistakes are not made, but the police in question didn't seek that officer's advice. Had they done so this could have been very easily avoided.

dana, i don't care if it is a poster reminding them to breath at least a couple times a minute they can just eff off. it is a picture of a dog in a police hat. the dog isn't threatening, there is no saliva, the tongue isn't even showing.

if it was a picture of a pig and a couple jews got offended would anyone care? probably not. everyone is so concerned about what muslims think and it is just ridiculous.

Couldn't agree more. ...why should every freakin' breathing moment of exsistance be dictated by this kind of crap? Ridiculous indeed.

because they might blow you up.

(j/k. really!)

It's a religious issue.
People always back off on religious issues, whatever the faith.

Yes I do find it ridiculous. But that's because I have no belief whatsoever. I also gag when people tell me that "someone" must be looking out for me, or that everything happens for a reason. I try not to let it out too much though, because I don't like to offend people unecessarily.

Finally, some sanity about this crap. No one cares if anyone is offended unless they're Muslims. I don't care if they're offended. I'm fed up with their whiny asses.

During the 2005 general election, the Labour Party used a series of posters which was basically suggesting that the Tories would carry out this or that great plan only when pigs flew. There was a picture of flying pigs one of whom had the tory leader's head. There was an outcry amongst the Jewish community and the labour party were accused of being anti-semitic, because they portrayed a jewish politician as a pig.

The reason we have diversity officers in police forces is to ensure that unnecessary offence is not caused. Personally I think those complaining are making a mountain out of a molehill and making a conscious decision to be offended by something which was not meant to be offensive: but it'd be a lot easier if the police just applied a little sense and don't use imagery that's potentially offensive to large chunks of the people they serve. Pigs, dogs and cows are probably best avoided as poster mascots.

Right, wrong or indifferent, does anyone here besides me know why muslims have a thing about dogs?

I wonder, if Christ would have told one of his disciples that dogs are unclean and that no good Christian would have a dog in his home, I wonder if there would be a problem with the add.

What Mohammed PBUH said about dogs is a very well known fact among muslims in the world.

I suppose that it might depend on the size of the population I'm going to piss off with my seemingly innocent advertising. What is the impact on the local economy, what kind of message am I sending, without saying anything with words to a large segment of my local population. I suppose if I were a leader I would want to be aware of these things.

Sometimes I think the largest segment of the population thinks they can just tell everyone else, "fuck off and see it my way. What you think and believe is silly nonsense anyway." Finally, yes, it is this way no matter where I go in the world, it seems to be human nature.

parting thought, it is a hard thing in a free society to diplomatically balance the majority with various minority populations. Especially when they all have different beliefs and values. It is worth doing.

Well said Joe.

If it was a pig and a couple of jews were offended (actually, far more likely that there would be widespread outrage amongst jewish communities) the advert would most likely be withdrawn. It is not an advert for hairspray, it is a poster disseminating important public information and has been devised and placed by a public body. It should be tailored to meet the needs of that public.

Imagine an "out" homosexual advertising a public service in Bible Belt America.
How offensive would that be deemed?

And I would be dismissive of the condemnation too - in fact I'd be more strident in my view as it involves a human being.