Lebanon clerics order 'scandalous' Coca-Cola ads to be replaced

A religious committee in northern Lebanon has demanded that local authorities take action against the display of "scandalous" advertising billboards in Tripoli.

The Association of Muslim Scholars in Lebanon this month ordered Tripoli's municipality to remove several offensive Coca-Cola ads from the streets of the conservative Sunni majority city.

The billboards were taken down out of "respect for the common morals of people" the association said in a statement on Saturday.

It posted an image on social media of the ads - which featured a topless man and a swimsuit-wearing woman embracing on the beach - being torn down.

Raid Hlaihel, head of the Association of Muslim Scholars, told local media that the large outdoor ads were "indecent and immoral".

"It was disrespectfully placed outside a mosque. If we could have removed them ourselves we wouldn't have hesitated so we took legal action and asked the municipality to take it down," Hlaihel said.

"As summer is approaching we ask companies to not exploit women's bodies to sell their products and to respect our values… some of these images I haven't seen in Europe before."

The Association of Muslim Scholars has made headlines in the past for making controversial decisions such as banning Muslims from taking part in non-Islamic religious ceremonies.

This order came about after a video went viral showing Muslim girls singing at Christmas mass.

It has also been accused of having close ties to extremists movements after it mediated between the Lebanese army and jihadi groups.

Many Lebanese have taken to social media to comment on the decision to take down the advertisement.

"We will not be silent about Tripoli being expelled from Lebanese society," TV journalist Dima Sadek said on Twitter.

Professor at Lebanese University, Rouba Dalati, said: "Coca-Cola thanks you for the free marketing".