A now-viral video that portrays a suicide bomber confronting his would-be victims, only to change his mind after a musical back-and-forth, is sparking intense discussions this week about terrorism.
“I will tell God everything,” the voice of a young girl says as the terrorist works on his explosive device. “You’ve filled the cemeteries with our children and emptied our school desks.”
The three-minute commercial for Kuwait-based telecom company Zain builds from there as the community rises to successfully stop the terrorist.
The video leaves viewers with the message:”Let’s bomb violence with mercy.”
The ad comes just days after the start of Ramadan, a month-long Islamic holiday that’s reportedly the biggest moment of the year for Arab world advertisers, on par with the Super Bowl in the United States. It also debuted at nearly the same time as two bombings in Baghdad that killed dozens and another massive terror attack in Kabul, Afghanistan that took the lives of more than 80 people and wounded hundreds more.
Many Muslims took to Twitter to praise the ad, writing messages like “speechless” and calling the ad a “must watch.” But others were not impressed; many complained that the ad exploited victims of war in order to sell a mobile service, and some likened the commercial’s “distorted” and “offensive” ad to Pepsi’s high-profile blunder featuring Kendall Jenner earlier this year.
So far, the video has garnered upwards of 3.5 million views on YouTube. Take a look for yourself.
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