MTN Uganda withdraws advert after public outcry over ‘sexualisation’

MTN Uganda announced Friday that it is retrieving an advert for one of its data bundle campaigns after getting negative feedback from the public.

The video advert has been paying on major TV channels and social media platforms for weeks.

It involves a young man pulling hip-thrust dance moves along with a group of colleagues. The moves, however, have been deemed as highly sexualised by sections of the public.

Pastor Martin Ssempa of the Makerere Community Church led the charge against the telecom company, demanding the pull down the advert,

“This is the sexualisation of our culture. Whereas I expect this from other brands I did not expect this from MTN a, respected brand,” said Ssempa in a rant on X.

“I as a leader in youth development have watched the impact of sexualised music on young children. Young kids can imitate what they see. MTN, you are crossing over with this advert into dry-humping and making it mainstream,” he said.

In the rant, Pastor Ssempa made a direct call to the MTN top leadership to take down the ad, noting; “Many of you are parents and do understand the challenge of raising children in a very sexualised environment. We have to protect out children because our laws and culture demand it.”

This Friday morning, Ssempa had a meeting with the MTN Uganda CEO, Ms Sylvia Mulinge in which a decision was made to pull down the advert.

“For now, we have made a decision as MTN to listen to our customers and we thank you for your feedback. We have retrieved the ad. It will not be running anywhere,” Mulinge said.

“We shall try to figure out how we are going to bring you the Gaga Vibe in the next few days.”

Mulinge also announced that the company will soon hold a workshop to have a conversation about what the company stands for.

The workshop, she said, will be attended by young people to express themselves in terms of what they want to see.