Ads for Islamic investment platform showing burning US and euro banknotes banned

Six ads for an Islamic investment platform showing US dollar and euro banknotes on fire have been banned after a regulator ruled they were likely to cause serious offence.

The posters for Wahed Invest, seen in September and October on Transport for London (TfL) services including tubes and buses, featured images of Muslim preacher Ismail ibn Musa Menk and Russian former professional mixed martial artist Khabib Abdulmanapovich surrounded by the flaming banknotes.

They showed the two men pointing upwards with their index fingers and large text stating “Join the Money Revolution” above Wahed’s logo.

Three of the posters showed Mr Menk holding an open briefcase filled with US dollar and euro banknotes on fire, with two of them stating “Withdraw from Exploitation” and “Withdraw from Riba”.

A poster stated: “Charging people to borrow money was once called exploitation. Sadly, that perception has changed and now interest has caused a massive wealth gap, enriching the few while the majority get poorer. Join the growing community moving their money to a fairer system, one that serves you! Download Wahed now. Join the Money Revolution.”

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 75 complaints that the ads were offensive.

Wahed, which described itself as an investment platform allowing consumers who were predominantly Muslim to invest in a manner which aligned with their faith and values, said it often used the term “Riba”, which was an Arabic word that meant “excess” and was commonly used to describe the prohibition of interest under Islamic law.

Wahed told the ASA that it acknowledged that currencies were a symbol of national identity but believed the burning of banknotes was not offensive and was portrayed in popular culture, such as film and TV.

It said the burning of banknotes within the ads was designed to be a “powerful visual illustration” that money was akin to “going up in flames” when inflation grew faster than the rate of savings.

TfL told the ASA that it believed the ads complied with its ad policy and the regulator’s code.

It said it had received some complaints about the ads and had paused all campaigns from Wahed Invest pending the outcome of an investigation.

The ASA said all the ads showed the words “The United States of America” in flames, and would have been seen by many people, including tourists from the United States and eurozone countries.

The ASA said: “We acknowledged Wahed Invest’s view that the burning of banknotes illustrated that money which grew at a rate lower than inflation decreased in value in real terms.

“The ads represented the expression that viewers’ money was ‘going up in flames’ and that images of burning money were commonly encountered.

“However, regardless of whether viewers would have understood that message or understood it as a defiant act designed to show a challenge to financial institutions, the currencies which were burned in all of the ads were clearly visible as US dollar and euro banknotes.

“We considered some viewers, particularly people from the United States or eurozone countries, would have viewed their nation’s currency as being culturally significant and a symbol of their national identity.

“Although we acknowledged Wahed Invest’s view that they had not directly criticised a specific group, and that depictions of burning banknotes were commonly encountered, we considered the burning of banknotes would have caused serious offence to some viewers.

“We therefore concluded that the ads were likely to cause serious offence.”

A TfL spokeswoman said: “All adverts are reviewed against TfL’s policy, as well as the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code before being approved to run on the network. It is absolutely right that any further concerns about adverts following this process are referred to the ASA as the independent advertising regulator.

“We supported the ASA’s investigation into the advertising campaign from Wahed and, following the outcome, we will apply the findings when considering any future campaigns.”

Wahed launched in the US in 2019 and is backed by the oil giant Saudi Aramco.

Wahed has been approached for comment.