Holywings has pledged the sternest of sanctions towards its promotions team after the popular chain of nightlife establishments posted a drinks promo containing blasphemous overtones.
In a recent social media post, Holywings promised a bottle of Gordon’s dry gin for men named Muhammad and a bottle of Gordon’s Pink Gin for women named Maria every Thursday. To claim the freebies, eligible patrons only had to present their ID cards at the venue.
The promo has been removed amid huge public backlash. Though Maria is an important figure in both the Bible and the Quran, the outrage mostly centered on the use of the name Muhammad, the last of the prophets in Islam.
Holywings posted an apology for the promo yesterday.
“We have taken action against the promotions team, who made the promo without the management’s prior knowledge, with heavy sanctions,” the post read, without going into detail as to the nature of the sanctions.
“It is not in our heart’s intent to associate elements of religion with our promo, so we express our deepest apology to all the people of Indonesia.”
Users in the post’s comments sections scoffed at the apology, with many expressing disbelief that Holywings management did not approve the promotional material prior to its publication.
GP Ansor, the youth wing of the largest Indonesian Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), said today that it will stage protests at Holywings venues in Jakarta over the controversy.
The group also plans to file a formal blasphemy complaint against Holywings with the Jakarta Metro Police. Under Indonesian law, religious blasphemy is punishable by up to five years in prison.
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