Optus forced to remove Arabic advertisements after backlash

OPTUS has come under fire on social media after featuring an advertisement written in Arabic at a shopping centre in Sydney.

OPTUS has been forced to remove advertisements written in Arabic from one of its stores, following threats to staff.

The advertisement was put up in Optus’ Casula Mall store in New South Wales, and immediately prompted a backlash on Facebook.

One user described the telco as a “disgrace”, saying: “How dare you Optus, use our national anthem as an excuse for your disgusting display by using posters in Arabic.”

Another user wrote: “Can I just ask why Optus is advertising in casula mall (sic) in middle eastern language and not English?

“This is an outrage, this is Australia not Syria. You are hypocrites saying sorry for Paris etc etc but advertising only for Muslims to read.”

After the telco took the ads down, another simply said: “Good on you for taking the Arabic ads down. Respect.”

Casula Mall’s Facebook page also issued a response to angry feedback, saying: “Thank you for your feedback. We are currently working with Optus and the advertising installers to have the sign removed from Casula Mall.”

But despite the removal, Optus defended its advertising strategy. The telco explained the adverts were a reflection of Australia’s diverse population and multitude of languages.

In response to complaints, ‘Thane’ wrote on behalf of the telco: “You’ll start to see more ad’s (sic) like this in many languages. We live in a diverse and multiculrual country and appreciate that everyone may not know English as their first language, so we’re inviting people to communicate with us.”

Another spokesman for Optus, ‘Dan’, wrote: “Australia is a country while Islam is a religion.

“The language used on the sign was Arabic, which is also spoken by a number of non-Muslim countries.”

Since the ad was removed, a large number of social media users responded to the backlash via the Optus Facebook page.

Some expressed disappointment the advertisement was taken down, while others offered moral support.

Brooze Elizabeth wrote: “I am very sorry you and your Casula staff have had to endure such ignorance and bigoted behaviour from a thankfully small but loud section of our society.

“I think it is fantastic that you value the skills and diversity of your staff and utilise this to make things easier for those who speak Arabic as a first language.”

Another user urged the telco to “stand their ground”, saying: “bigots are everywhere but it doesn’t make them right and leadership needs to be shown where fear mongering is rife.”

According to the 2011 census, Arabic is the third-largest non-English language spoken at home at 1.3 per cent.