Arsalan Iftikhar, senior editor at The Islamic Monthly and founder of TheMuslimGuy.com,
Arsalan Iftikhar, senior editor at The Islamic Monthly and founder of TheMuslimGuy.com, posted a picture to his Twitter and Facebook wall of a defaced subway advertisement for Gap featuring Sikh actor and jewelry designer Waris Ahluwalia (socialite). The caption had been changed from “Make Love” to “Make Bombs,” and the writer had also scrawled “Please stop driving TAXIS” onto the poster.
Gap tweeted back at Iftikhar to find out the location of the ad, which is part of its holiday “#MakeLove” campaign featuring a wide variety of diverse models.
But that wasn’t all. The company proceeded to change its Twitter background to the picture of Ahluwalia, to show solidarity and support.
Some members of the Sikh community have started a “Thank you, Gap” campaign in order to show their appreciation for the inclusion of a Sikh model. A letter to the company says, “By placing a Sikh model in prominent locations on billboards, direct mail advertising and digital channels, you have raised the profile of Sikhs in ways the community couldn’t have accomplished with its limited resources. The community has tremendously benefitted from the attention it has received through Gap’s marketing campaign.”
Nice to see major companies investing in the Asian community!