Israeli Gay Party Promoter in Hot Water Over ISIS Ad Campaign

You'd think that Israel would be the last place something like this would happen. Guess again.

An Israeli gay event promoter is in hot water over the use of sexualized imagery inspired by the radical Islamic terror group ISIS's executions featured in advertising materials used to promote a gay Friday night party, Al Bawaba reports.

Drek, the party promoting machine behind Tel Aviv's most popular gay events, has drawn harsh criticism online after using the recent executions carried out by ISIS as inspiration for a Friday night party called "Drekistan at the Haoman."

On Drek's Facebook page, the promoting company writes "we at Drek have decided to give in to sharia law and cheer the stubborn Daesh."

Ynet points out this is considered in extremely bad taste by many given the fact that the word "stubborn" was a play on words in Hebrew connected to beheading, as it can be written as "hard-necked."

The Guardian notes that one image used to advertise the party clearly referenced videos recently released by ISIS in which American and British captives are beheaded, showed a muscled man in a black off-the-shoulder tunic standing in a desert with his hand on the neck of a kneeling man wrapped in an orange garment, the same color as the jumpsuits worn by ISIS victims.

The image has since been removed from Drek's Facebook page.

Another photo that features a model wearing a black bikini holding up an ISIS inspired black flag remains.

Amiri Kalman, one of Drek's owners, claims, "This is satire, and our way of showing our contempt of them and their videos."

Use of violent or other sexualized imagery in questionable taste is not unique to Israel. New York City event promoting machine, The Saint at Large have often received harsh criticism over the advertising campaign for their annual fetish-fest, The Black Party. Past Black Party ads have included imagery that pushed the envelope, including one of a little boy gleefully holding a slab of raw meat.