An advertising agency has caused outrage after creating a promotion for a mattress company which depicts schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai being shot in the face.
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The advert was created by multinational company Ogilvy and shows Malala, who was 14 when she was shot by a Taliban extremist, falling backwards covered in blood, being attached to a drip and then ‘bouncing back’ to receive an award.
An agency representative defended the advert as a tribute – but it was blasted by others as wildly insensitive and a spokesman for the schoolgirl said it was ‘distasteful’.
Indian bedding company Kurl-On commissioned a series of three poster adverts from the Indian branch of the design agency, which was founded by British David Ogilvy in 1948.
The other two ads in the series show Gandhi leaving his career as a barrister to become a peace activist, and Steve Jobs bouncing back after he was kicked out of Apple.
Pakistani-born Malala was shot in the face on a school bus by an extremist Taliban gunman because she wanted to receive an education, in a horrific crime that shocked the world.
Malala, now 16, was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where she recovered from her injuries.
The young girl has since released her autobiography, and has received a string of humanitarian awards for her continued activism, including a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
Kurl-On claim to the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of mattresses and beds, and export their products to several countries including Britain.
It is not known whether the mattress firm approved the design or used the advert.
Several Kurl-On representatives did not immediately return requests for comment.
Ogilvy’s India spokesman did return requests for comment and the firm’s Europe spokesman referred MailOnline’s enquiry to the India branch.
A spokesman for the British Advertising Standards Authority said he could not say whether the advert would be against its guidelines unless it was used in Britain and received complaints.
‘The codes are very strict and say adverts should not contain anything which would cause serious or widespread offence,’ he added.
Pakistani-born Malala was shot in the face on a school bus by an extremist Taliban gunman because she wanted to receive an education, in a horrific crime that shocked the world.
Malala, now 16, was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where she recovered from her injuries.
The young girl has since released her autobiography, and has received a string of humanitarian awards for her continued activism, including a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
Kurl-On claim to the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of mattresses and beds, and export their products to several countries including Britain.
It is not known whether the mattress firm approved the design or used the advert.
Several Kurl-On representatives did not immediately return requests for comment.
Ogilvy’s India spokesman did return requests for comment and the firm’s Europe spokesman referred MailOnline’s enquiry to the India branch.
A spokesman for the British Advertising Standards Authority said he could not say whether the advert would be against its guidelines unless it was used in Britain and received complaints.
‘The codes are very strict and say adverts should not contain anything which would cause serious or widespread offence,’ he added.
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Courtesy: Daily Mail
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