German beer company Eichbaum issues public apology for printing Saudi Arabian flag on beer bottle caps

May 14, 2018 On Friday, German company  issued a public apology and said they have halted their marketing campaign of printing caps of beer bottles with flags of 32 countries participating in next month's  in Russia. Saudi Arabia's flag printed on a beer bottle was condemned by many on social networking platforms.

is banned in Saudi Arabia. It is considered  in Islam, meaning Muslims are prohibited from consuming alcohol. Saudi Arabia's flag bears the Islamic , or the creed "Kalimat al-Tawheed", that is. Saudi Arabia's embassy in Germany published a statement on Twitter saying printing the flag with shahada on beer beverage "constitutes a violation to the holiness of the word, an insult to the flag and a provocation against the feelings of Muslims".

The -based company, in their statement, said, "We have no interest in religious or political manifestations — certainly not about our products. If we have offended you unintentionally, we apologise." Company's marketing director Holger Vatter-Schönthal said, "We did not know that the characters were a creed. We have only checked whether the flags of the participants are correct."

The marketing strategy was condemned by Saudi Arabia's embassy in German capital Berlin. Eichbaum said they are trying to remove all the beer bottles bearing the Saudi Arabian flag.