The MTA unfairly pulled an ad campaign for a movie about Muslim culture because the transit agency confused the humor in the posters for pāolšitical statements banned under a new policy, the filmmakers charge in two new lawsuits.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is accused of Āreneging on a $15,000 deal to plaster movie posters on walls in 140 subway stationš²s.
The film āThe Muslims are Coming!ā by Negin Farsad and Dean Obeidallašh is billed as a lighthearted look at the š¤”culture of the religion.
The ads used what the studio calls āsatirical and tongź¦ue-in-cheekā statements such as āThe Ugly Truth About Muslims: Muslims have great frittata recipesā and āThose Terrorists are All Nutjobs,ā with the word ānutjobsā substituted for the crossed-off āMuslimā because it was āmore accurate.ā
Accāording to the studio, the film carries a message that āAmeršÆican Muslims are ordinary people,ā and that the MTA had no compelling reason to ban it.
When the posters didnāt go up on the scheduled date in April, the filmmakers called the MTA but didnāt hear back for several days, and then were told the ads would violate a new policy that bans ads that are āpolitical in nšature.šā
The filmmakers countered that there is nothing political about funny movie posters. One of the ads says, āMuslims! They invented coffee, the š¼toothbrush and algebra .ā.ā. Oh wait, sorry about the algebra. Thatās a year of class youāll never get back.ā
Another said: āš§øBeware! The Muslims are coming! And they shall strike with hugs so fierce that youāll end up calling your grandmother and telling her you love her!ā
āWe tried to reason with the MTA,ā the filmmakers wrote in aną² article in The Daily Beast. āWe tried appealing to their sense of fairness. We even tried groveling. But to no avail. MTA lawyers made it clear that our ads, ads intended to show that Muslimās are ordinary people with a sense of humor (and a sense of hummus), had no place in their New York City subway system.ā
The studio also saidą± the MTA had approved the ads in March, but withdrew that approvšal last month in light of its April 29 ad ban.
MTA spokesman Adam š¦Lisberg said the agency had not been served with the complaint, and he declined to comment further.
āOur lawsuit will travel through the legal systemš slower than the G train,ā the filmmakers wrote. āBut at least itās moving.ā