Ad starring Sabbir taken down
A television commercial starring Bangladesh cricketer Sabbir Rahman had to be taken down after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) made objections to the advertisement.
According to Mohammad Anisur Rahman, COO of Oscar Malt and Beverage, the commercial wing of the BCB mailed Anisur and requested him to take the commercial down on October 21.
“We complied with their request,” Anisur told The Daily Star yesterday.
The advertisement focuses on two characters. Sabbir plays himself while model Naila Nayem plays the role of a police inspector. In the commercial, people across Bangladesh are seen searching for Sabbir, who has lost touch with the outside world since he is busy drinking the non-alcoholic beverage in a secret room in his house. After finding Sabbir, the inspector handcuffs herself to him.
According to the chairman of BCB's media wing, Jalal Yunus, the board felt that the advertisement was not an appropriate one for a cricketer to be associated with.
“The BCB asked the company to take the television commercial down because we thought it wasn't an advertisement we wanted Sabbir to be associated with. There are thousands of children and individuals who are inspired by Sabbir and we don't want his image to be hurt,” Yunus told The Daily Star yesterday.
Meanwhile, Anisur said that his company would have a meeting with Sabbir after the conclusion of the England series in order to resolve the problem.
“We have taken down the advertisement and we have incurred losses because of that, But that's something which can be handled. We will talk to Sabbir afterwards and manage the situation. We have a good relationship with the BCB. We are their beverage partner. I am sure whatever solution we come to will work well for both Sabbir and us,” said Anisur.
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