As Saudi Crown Prince Visits London, PR Blitzkrieg Follows With Ads All Over The Capital

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s state visit to the United Kingdom is currently witnessing some controversy over the Middle Eastern Kingdom’s PR overdrive, reports The Washington Post. Salman was greeted in London by foreign secretary Boris Johnson and dined with the monarchy.

However, his visit has been mired with controversy over what can be termed as a PR overdrive. Numerous advertisements have popped up all over London using the hashtag #ANewSaudiArabia. With advertisements across digital billboards, newspapers, taxi cabs and more, counter advertisements have also appeared across the capital city.

Salman is viewed as a liberal back home for policies such as allowing women to drive, but his foreign policy has been termed as rather controversial. Notably, the United Kingdom is the largest arms supplier to Saudi which is currently leading an intervention against rebels backed by Iran in Yemen. Critics have said that Saudi’s indiscriminate use of force has triggered a massive humanitarian crises in Yemen, with over 10,000 people dead and more than three million people left displaced.

Sources peg an increase of 500 per cent in British amrs sales to Saudi Arabia since 2015 when the intervention began. A poll conducted by Campaign Against Arms Trade showed that only 6 per cent of the British supported arms sales to Saudi while 37 per cent opposed Salman’s visit.