A group of actors stormed into a mall, wielded their swords in the air and screamed, "Allahu Akbar," pretending to wage an attack on the building. Their stunt left many people startled and generated much backlash.
The purpose of the dress up was to harmlessly promote the film, whose story revolves around an Iranian father and a son who travel together to deliver humanitarian supplies but are later kidnapped by the Islamic State, according to a Washington Post report.
Watch the video here:
However, the prank did not go as planned and received much backlash — online as well as offline. A clip recorded at the mall also put the spotlight on a parent asking the actors, “What if a woman or a child is shocked by your freaky show here? Who is responsible for such a stupid move? Who the hell did tell you to dress up like this?” an Iran Front Page report stated.
After the clip went viral, many people slammed both, the actors and the stunt, on Twitter.
“The craziest ad campaign I’ve seen in a long time! A film production company has hired a few actors, dressed them as #ISIS, & has released them in a shopping mall in #Iran. Not sure what it’s supposed to accomplish except scare the bejeezus out of people,” one wrote, while another commented: “Lord is this real? Brazil actor Alexandre Frota dresses as ISIS and sends a message to Lula before impeachment protest.”
