The South Australian butcher accused of vilifying Muslims with a “Non-Halal Certified” sign has refused to remove the signage from the shopfront window.
The Advertising Standards Community Panel ruled earlier this month that the Adelaide-based business breached the Advertisers Code of Ethics by informing customers that their food products were not halal certified.
According to the Ad Standards Panel, the sign incites hatred and contempt of Muslims and would have been less likely to breach advertising standards if the message said, “Unfortunately, non Halal.”
The panel also took issue with the fact that the wording was accompanied by imagery of an emu and kangaroos, which suggests “Islamic dietary practices are not Australian” and gives off “a strong impression” that Muslims are not welcome in the store.
In a statement posted yesterday on the store’s Facebook page, the owners thanked their supporters and vowed: “as long as we own the shop the sign won’t ever come down!”
The statement reads:
Firstly we at Valley Butchers would like to thank everyone for the support and encouragement, it’s been amazing! It’s wonderful how loud as Australians wherever we are around the world our voices can be heard, as long as we speak as one.
Secondly as long as we own the shop the sign won’t ever come down! Thank you once again from the team at Valley Butchers!
The business did, however, reportedly make one minor alteration to the sign, changing “Non-Halal” to “Not Halal” after the Panel noted there is “no such thing as a certification that a food is ‘non halal.'” Tomayto, tomahto.
