MTN Uganda announced Friday that it is withdrawing an advert for one of its data bundle campaigns after getting negative feedback from the public.
It involves a young man pulling hip-thrust dance moves along with a group of colleagues. The moves, however, have been deemed as highly sexualized
Pastor Martin Ssempa led the charge against the telecom company, demanding the pull down the advert,
“This is the sexualisation of our culture. Whereas I expect this from other brands I did not expect this from MTN a, respected brand,” said Ssempa in a rant on X.
“I as a leader in youth development have watched the impact of sexualised music on young children. Young kids can imitate what they see. MTN, you are crossing over with this advert into dry-humping and making it mainstream,” he said.
Pastor Ssempa made a direct call to the MTN top leadership to take down the ad, noting; “Many of you are parents and do understand the challenge of raising children in a very sexualised environment. We have to protect our children because our laws and culture demand it.
As if on cue, Ssempa had a meeting with the MTN Uganda CEO, Sylvia Mulinge in which a decision was made to pull down the advert.
“For now, we have made a decision as MTN to listen to our customers and we thank you for your feedback. We have retrieved the ad. It will not be running anywhere,” Mulinge said.
