BACKLASH FOR LOWE’S AS ADS PULLED FROM MUSLIM SHOW

MMmm nice tushies... oooops sorry forgot this is a family blog....

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The home improvement chain store Lowes is in hot water over a decision to pull its advertising from TLC’s All American Muslim. What may have been a choice made in an effort to appease one group of people, could justifiably prove to be a major public relations problem for the business. 

I have been enjoying this programme from the start and found it to be totally interesting and real. It has been a good look into Muslim life in America and delves into many issues in a humane, entertaining and educational manner.

Up here in Canada we have had the humorous but not nearly so educational a programme, Little Mosque on the Prairie, running for about five years; I think it has run its course, this is the last season. However these were scripted stories by skilled writers so perhaps it is a different category than “reality” where people see the Muslim community as just like other in which young fathers attend births, boys play football and mix it all with Muslim values and traditions.

The sight of smart chic very eloquent Muslim women who challenge the perception of the downtrodden doddy muslim woman is frightening? Career women, at home mothers, new brides, older women…some in scarves, some showing cleavage, all of them fascinating and intelligent. My that is a scary concept!

Perhaps the reversion of one young American to marry his tattooed hillbilly loving Muslim girlfriend scared the public? The young man is shown struggling through his first Ramadan but pulls through just fine. His motivation for reversion is questioned and clarified, things that are unheard of in the West. Surely he was only driven by lust to take such an “ungodly” step?

The problem is… you CANNOT SEE THE PERCEIVED ENEMY AS HUMAN! That is the biggie. In today’s America, Muslims must be “OTHER” or mysterious, different, frightening but NEVER American as apple pie or hummus and pita! And the vision of a young man, who looks like any other but happens to be Muslim, holding his brand new son, fresh from the womb, hits too close to home in the eyes of the Islamophobes.

AP

Lowe’s Home Improvement has found itself facing a backlash after the retail giant pulled ads from a reality show about American Muslims.

The retail giant stopped advertising on TLC’s “All-American Muslim” after a conservative group known as the Florida Family Association complained, saying the program was “propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.”

The show premiered last month and chronicles the lives of five families from Dearborn, Mich., a Detroit suburb with a large Muslim and Arab-American population.

A state senator from Southern California said Sunday he was considering calling for a boycott.

Calling the Lowe’s decision “un-American” and “naked religious bigotry,” Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, told The Associated Press he would also consider legislative action if Lowe’s doesn’t apologize to Muslims and reinstate its ads. The senator sent a letter outlining his complaints to Lowe’s Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Niblock.

“The show is about what it’s like to be a Muslim in America, and it touches on the discrimination they sometimes face. And that kind of discrimination is exactly what’s happening here with Lowe’s,” Lieu said.

The Florida group sent three emails to its members, asking them to petition Lowe’s to pull its advertising. Its website was updated to say that “supporters’ emails to advertisers make a difference.”
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The North Carolina-based Lowe’s issued a statement apologizing for having “managed to make some people very unhappy.”
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“Individuals and groups have strong political and societal views on this topic, and this program became a lightning rod for many of those views,” the statement said. “As a result we did pull our advertising on this program. We believe it is best to respectfully defer to communities, individuals and groups to discuss and consider such issues of importance.”  

ED: It doesn’t sound like the First Amendment is as high on this organization’s list of American liberties worth supporting as it is on the Constitution, but that’s neither here nor there at the moment. The big story is that Lowes responded to the complaints by pulling their advertising from the series. 

The apology doesn’t go far enough, Lieu said. The senator vowed to look into whether Lowe’s violated any California laws and said he would also consider drafting a senate resolution condemning the company’s actions.

“We want to raise awareness so that consumers will know during this holiday shopping season that Lowe’s is engaging in religious discrimination,” Lieu said.

Besides an apology and reinstatement of the ads, Lieu said he hoped Lowe’s would make an outreach to the community about bias and bigotry.

Lieu’s office said a decision was expected Wednesday or Thursday on whether to proceed with the boycott.

Lowe’s said company officials are trying to make arrangements to talk directly to Lieu about his concerns and clarify the company’s position.

Suehaila Amen, whose family is featured on “All-American Muslim,” said she was disappointed by the Lowe’s decision.

“I’m saddened that any place of business would succumb to bigots and people trying to perpetuate their negative views on an entire community,” Amen, 32, told The Detroit News on Sunday.

Dawud Walid, Michigan director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group felt “extreme disappointment” at Lowe’s “capitulation to bigotry.”

Walid said he has heard expressions of anger and calls for a boycott by Muslims but said a key to resolving the Lowe’s advertising controversy will be how non-Muslim religious leaders and others react to Lowe’s decision.

“I will be picking up the phone tomorrow to some of our friends and allies to explain the situation to them,” Walid said Sunday.