Amazon ad may be first to feature a Muslim cleric
The most surprising thing about Amazon’s latest ad for its Prime service is that it appears to be the first time a Muslim cleric has been featured in a television ad shown in the United States.
“I can’t think of one. There are plenty of religious figures in television, especially sitcoms and police procedurals. But no ads with imams,” said Tobe Berkovitz, a professor of advertising at Boston University.
Amazon has done several wordless ads for Prime featuring people buying what it terms charming solutions for everyday problems. They include a father buying a lion’s mane for the family dog so the new baby isn’t scared of it, a dog with a broken leg getting a lift in a baby carrier and a grandfather using a leaf blower to power his granddaughter’s swing.
The new ad, which began airing in the U.S., United Kingdom and Germany on Wednesday, would be no different were the subject matter not so rare.
Set in England, the commercial begins with an Episcopal priest opening the door for his good friend, a Muslim imam. The two older men talk, laugh and share a cup of tea, both wincing at their creaky knees as they sit and stand.
After they part, both pull out their phones, tap the Prime app and order something.
Next we see them getting a delivery at their respective homes, and it’s clear they’ve each bought the other identical knee pads. The end of the 120second ad features both men in their respective houses of worship, kneeling in prayer.
Amazon didn’t set out to make any kind of political statement, and the subject had nothing to do with the recently concluded U.S. presidential election, the company was quick to say. Work on the ad had begun in June, said Simon Morris, Amazon’s European Union director of advertising.
However, it’s clear the topic is of concern, as Amazon does not generally reach out to the press in advance about its television ads. Groups that track hate crimes say there has been a rise in anti-immigrant and antiMuslim incidents since the Nov. 8 election of Donald Trump, who called for a halt to all immigrants who were Muslim during his campaign.
The Amazon producers worked with several religious groups — including the Interfaith Alliance, the National Council of Churches and the Islamic Circle of North America — to ensure the ad was respectful, Morris said.
The lead characters in the commercial are played by actual religious leaders. They are Gary Bradley, vicar at St. Mary’s and Paddington Green in London and Zubier Mohammad, principal of the Muslim School Oadby in Leicester, Morris said. The advertisement was filmed at two churches, St. Dunstan and All Saints Stepney Church in London, and at the East London Mosque.
While Muslims are a small minority in the United States, making up just under 1% of the U.S. population, there are 3.3 million of them and there have been Muslim communities in the country for decades.