October 24, 2005
Life Imitates The Onion
You just can't make this sort of thing up:
British banks are banning piggy banks because they may offend some Muslims.Halifax and NatWest banks have led the move to scrap the time-honoured symbol of saving from being given to children or used in their advertising, the Daily Express/Daily Star group reported today.
FWIW, the article also quotes a Muslim MP, Khalid Mahmoud, as telling the banks not to be twits.
Yips! to Trader Rob over at The Jawa Report.
As much as I hate the PC movement, I don't know that I can fault the banks, here. If this were a government-mandated action, then sure, it would be sheer stupidity. But if you run a private business, and you realize that one of your products might offend a large segment of customers or potential customers, is it better to cut off your own business, or to quit using something that doesn't really affect your business one way or the other?
It may be argued in response that British Jews seem to have gone a few thousand years without freaking out at the sight of a piggy bank, but that misses the point. If Jews aren't on a cultural hair-trigger, such that piggy banks won't cost you business, there's no personal, financial incentive to stop using them. If Muslims react differently, and if there's no particular reason to keep using the piggy banks, and if you have a financial reason to cater to the whims of your clientele, I won't fault you for doing so.
But just to reiterate, if this were government-mandated, I would have a very different opinion.
Posted by: Sobek at October 24, 2005 06:28 PM