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Many Saudis have taken their anger to social media after a local German brewery printed Saudi Arabia's flag on its beer bottles, reports Deutshe Welle.
The Eichbaum brewery, located in Mannheim (Southern Germany), did not know that the inclusion of Saudi Arabia's flag on its beer bottle caps would generate a wave of criticism on Facebook and Twitter.
Many Muslim internet users found it inappropriate and insulting to print the Islamic statement of faith (which is featured on the Saudi flag) on an alcoholic beverage. Tweets and Facebook statements denounced the initiative and called the German company to remove the print.
Either ignorance or attention seeking, both reasons don't justify such a "mistake". & yes it is a big deal. #RespectDifferences #eichbaum #SaudiArabia pic.twitter.com/ra8NNquKpU
— LeenRF (@LeenFaiisal) May 11, 2018
The campaign on social media was followed by a statement issued by the Saudi Embassy in Germany in which it urged Eichbaum to stop producing the bottles after contacting the German authorites.
Responding to the viral wave of anger, the German brewery announced Friday that it was «halting a marketing campaign tied to the World Cup after sparking outrage on social media», says DW.
The company has even issued a statement on Facebook on the same day, insisting that it had «stopped producing the World Cup bottle caps and that they were working to remove the Saudi Arabia bottles from stores».
For the record, Eichbaum brewery has printed the flags of each of the 32 World Cup national teams on its bottle caps in an attempt to celebrate the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Saudi Arabia's national football team is to compete June in Russia with other teams qualified for the 2018 World Cup.
Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt are also taking part in the international competition.
