By Kristina Fried
By Kristina Fried
A number of conservative Americans have taken offense at a Jeep advertisement that ran in the United States during the Super Bowl this past Sunday. The commercial depicted scenes from all over the world set to the classic American folk song, “This Land is Your Land”.
At one point in the commercial, a woman is shown wearing a hijab, standing in the foreground of a mountain range. The shot lasts approximately two seconds, and is preceded and followed by shots of India, China, Brazil, and Australia, among others.
The commercial caused a backlash among the more conservative groups in the United States, with certain individuals taking to Twitter to voice their displeasure.
Several people questioned why Muslims should be included in the commercial on the grounds that they behead people. User artie_rx tweeted,
Die RT @artie_rx: This Land is Made for You and Me? Why didn’t that Jeep commercial show any Muslim savages beheading innocent people?
— From Oakland W/ Love (@RFWavekiller) February 2, 2015
And fellow twitter user Not Bruton Smith must have been thinking along the same lines, tweeting,
You better not drive that #jeep in the Arab Muslim countries. They will chop your head off
— Not Bruton Smith (@NotBrutonSmith) February 2, 2015
Other complaints included the inclusion of Muslims but the supposed exclusion of Israeli Jews, with twitter user Lady4Yeshua asking,
Most? RT @Lady4Yeshua “@Jeep; why could you show Arab Muslims, but not Israeli Jews? In most Arab countries, women aren’t allowed to drive!”
— Ali M Latifi (@alibomaye) February 2, 2015
Tweets like these were soon countered by defenders of the commercial. Twitter user Linda Sarsour played upon the common misperception that Muslim women are not allowed to drive, tweeting,
Muslim women and jeeps and ya’ll thought Islam said we couldn’t drive. ???????? #CreepingSharia #SuperBowl2015
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) February 2, 2015
In fact, it is only in Saudi Arabia that a law preventing women from driving is in effect.
Still others referenced the commercial’s inclusivity, with user Wardah Khalid tweeting,
Loved the @Jeep ad. If you can’t deal w/ the fact that Muslims are a part of this gorgeous world, then kindly move to another planet. #SB49
— Wardah Khalid (@YAmericanMuslim) February 2, 2015
