Insensitive Toyota Commercial at Super bowl needs a remake.

February 5, 2018, Washington, D.C. – We welcome the Toyota Commercial played during the Super Bowl, it was aimed to be inclusive of all Americans but it failed to do so, someone fumbled.  At the Center for pluralism, we take an exception to this commercial.

The interfaith movement needs to be lauded, as it brings Americans together. However, in the commercial played during the 52nd Super Bowl on Sunday, February 4, 2018,  leaders of a few faiths forgot about people of other faiths,  that is not inclusion, interfaith means all faiths, not just the Abrahamic faiths.  

Mike Ghouse, President of the Center asserted, “As a Muslim, I was elated to see the commercial, but by the time the commercial was over, I was sourly disappointed to see the exclusion of people of other faiths, the commercial is perceived to be inclusive, it is not, we the people are not in this together." 

Where was a Native American, Hindu, Sikh, Bahá’í, Zoroastrian, Wicca, Jain, Shinto, Atheist, Confucius or the other in the commercial? Aren’t they consumers of Toyota?

The commercial-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrGu6H8t2gU&sns=em

We urge Toyota to make a new commercial, where Americans of all hues are represented, you can place 30 different Americans in two rows of stadium chairs or whatever the background for a fleeting 3 seconds, each American will recognize his or her inclusion. Inclusion is good for business.

The Center for Pluralism is committed to building a cohesive America where no American feels excluded. If we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the given uniqueness of each one of us then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Mike Ghouse, President
Center for Pluralism 
Washington, DC

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