GREAT Ad in Israel

I just found this article on Arutz 7. It's about an ad that was running in Israel:

Israeli Ad Pulled Due to Saudi Pressure

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

Nissan Motor Company has asked its Israeli distributor to pull a local television commercial for the new Nissan Tiida (sold in the U.S. under the name Versa). The decision came after a Saudi Arabian official threatened Nissan with a region-wide boycott.

The commercial, produced by the firm of Inbar-Merhav-Shaked, depicts a group of Gulf Arabs in traditional dress and surrounded by bodyguards attacking a Tiida compact. After hitting, cursing and throwing a shoe at the car, the protagonist is pulled away as a voice-over says, "When you are the most fuel efficient, it's clear that you won't be loved by the oil emirates."

Unfortunately, the ad WAS pulled:

The Japan Times of August 9 quoted a Nissan spokesman in Japan as saying, "The commercial was produced by a local automobile distributor based on its own judgment, and Nissan Motor has nothing to do with the commercial." Daniella Raybenbach, spokesperson for Nissan Israel, confirmed that they had received a request to kill the ad.

Upon the release of the commercial earlier this month, Saudi Arabia's Dubai-based MBC TV quoted a Saudi official as saying, "It's my opinion that Nissan made a huge error by igniting these [racist] instincts. We need to apply punishments... against these things. In order for Nissan to keep its interests in the region, it must apologize." Other Arabic newspapers followed suit in calling for a boycott of Nissan.

The Nissan Company's corporate website claims that it "is one of the most popular and successful automobile brands" in Saudi Arabia. In June 1994, Nissan "set up a regional Middle East headquarters in Dubai, thus becoming the first Japanese car manufacturer to accomplish this feat," the website boasts.

Funny, I don't seem to ever recall the Arabs pulling ads ISRAEL didn't like...