CANBERRA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A television advertisement depicting the European invasion of Australia has been labelled "highly offensive" by members of the Aboriginal community, with some saying they are "disgusted" at the use of the event as a method to sell a product.
On Thursday, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) released its 2017 Australia Day ad, in which it encourages Australians to eat lamb on the national day, Jan. 26. To many Indigenous Australians, however, Jan. 26 is known as Invasion Day, the beginning of European settlement and the slaughter of thousands of Aboriginal Australians.
Despite the ad's multicultural appeal, in which "boat people" from throughout Australia's history come to the shores to attend a barbecue, members of the Indigenous community expressed their displeasure at MLA using the European invasion to sell meat.
Indigenous journalist Amy Mcquire told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) it was insensitive to use the European landings in an ad for Australia Day, even if the message is an inclusive one.
"(Using) the continual pain, the real pain felt on this date for their own purposes, for a marketing stunt ... that's the most offensive part of it," Mcquire said on Friday.
"There are Aboriginal people dying in custody, having their children taken away, committing suicide ... and that oppression stems from that original invasion."
"So to use that as a marketing ploy to sell lamb is even more disgusting I think."
MLA spokesman Andrew Howie said the ad was never created to cause offense, rather showcase and further foster Australia's accepting and multicultural identity.
"The work that we create is never designed to be offensive, it's not designed to cause offense to people," Howie told the ABC.
"This year's campaign is a celebration of Australia's history. This year, and with the essence of the brand being very much around unity, we realized that this time of year there are cultural sensitivities.
"If we were going to be inclusive (then) we needed to understand some of those cultural sensitivities."
Australia Day is on January 26.
