AussieMite – Sacrilegious Indeed

The controversial online ad showing a sacramental wafer being dipped into a jar of yeast spread during a Catholic mass has been withdrawn days after its release.

Herald Sun:

The ad was produced to promote the AussieMite spread and had caused widespread anger among Catholics.

At the time, its creator, Mick Hunter from Sydney agency Grown-Ups, said the ad was “probably a bit sacrilegious” and made in the hope of going “a bit viral”.

But in a statement released through its Facebook page, AussieMite said it never intended to cause offence.

“We sincerely apologise for any offence caused. It was never the intention to do so, but we recognise that for some it did.

“We have listened to your comments and removed any and all instances of the campaign from our social media channels. Furthermore, we have requested for the ad to be removed from all other channels.

“We are a small family-owned company looking to establish ourselves and a product we believe in and love.

“We sincerely hope that this will not dissuade you from buying AussieMite in the future.”

AussieMite founder Roger Ramsey said he had been shocked by the reaction.

He said a death threat had been left on the company’s telephone message bank but he had not taken it seriously.

“I didn’t think there would be such an emotional reaction,” he said. “It was only intended to be tongue in cheek and a bit of fun.

“Our intentions have always been to do good not create division. Our values our concerned with the health and well-being of the consumer.

“Time heals all wounds. The positive thing is that by and large the vast majority of the Catholic and other Christian communities have embraced the apology and are prepared to move on.”

 

 

New Zealand Ad: Pope Blesses Gay Couple

In the New Zealand Herald:

A billboard depicting Pope Benedict XVI blessing the marriage of a male couple is unlikely to cause widespread offence, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled.

The authority dismissed complaints against the Powershop billboard by four complainants.

The four-and-a-half storey billboard was part of a campaign by Powershop, with the slogan “Same Power, Different Attitude”.

The signs were put up last month in central Auckland and Wellington.

One complainant, B Pender, said the billboard offended him as a Christian.

“It is attempting to imply that the Catholic Church and The Vatican condone same sex marriage despite no formal communication of said claim.”

Other complaints to the authority mirrored that view and said the advertisement mocked the Catholic religion.

The authority’s chairman Jenny Robson said the advertisement was referring to the issue of the same-sex marriage bill that was before Parliament and was legislation the Catholic Church opposed.

The electricity company used irony and humour, in keeping with Powershop’s same power, different attitude campaign, she said.

Ms Robson said she acknowledged the offence caused to the complainants, but the billboard did not reach the threshold to be said to cause widespread offence in light of prevailing community standards.

“Neither did it breach the due sense of responsibility to consumers and society.”

Powershop chief executive Ari Sargent welcomed today’s decision.

“It kind of reflects the feedback that we’ve got from the general public – yes, there was some vocal opposition but, by in large, people saw it for what it was and didn’t find it particularly offensive.”

Yes, inoffensive only to the godless…

 

St Nicholas Flying Swiss

Awesome.

HT

Pope Kissing Imam Ad Pulled

CBS News::

The Benetton clothing company withdrew an ad Wednesday featuring Pope Benedict XVI kissing a top Egyptian imam on the lips after the Vatican denounced it as an unacceptable provocation.

Benetton had said its “Unhate” campaign launched Wednesday was aimed at fostering tolerance and “global love.”

The campaign’s fake photos feature a half-dozen purported political nemeses in lip-locked embraces, including President Barack Obama and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

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The photo of the pope kissing Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb of Cairo’s al-Azhar institute, the pre-eminent theological school of Sunni Islam, had been on Benetton’s website all day but was pulled about an hour after the Vatican’s protest.

Al-Azhar suspended interfaith talks with the Vatican earlier this year after Benedict called for greater protections for Egypt’s minority Christians.

A Benetton spokesman confirmed to The Associated Press that the pope-imam ad was no longer part of the campaign.

It wasn’t clear if the ad had been published anywhere; on Wednesday images from the campaign were unfurled briefly in Milan, New York, Paris, Tel Aviv and Rome but were quickly taken away.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi called the ad an “unacceptable” manipulation of the pope’s likeness that offended the religious sentiments of the faithful.

“It shows a serious lack of respect for the pope,” Lombardi said in a statement that warned that the Vatican was studying measures to protect the pontiff’s image.

Shock ads have long been a part of Benetton’s publicity strategy…

Rest and a photo of the ad here.

It is disgusting.

 

‘Payback is Hell’

Sick, especially in light of yesterday’s local shark attack:

They are well known for their shocking adverts with some of the world’s most famous people posing naked to help boost their animal rights message.

But this time PETA may have gone too far with its latest campaign, which suggests those who swim or fish in waters containing sharks are attacked or killed as ‘payback’.

The new poster shows a shark eating a severed human leg and the blood-stained slogan ‘Payback is Hell’, which aims to shock people into turning vegan.

PETA say that in particular they hope it will make people rethink fishing, suggesting if people inflict pain on sealife they deserve it themselves.

This could be considered particularly offensive as a British man was yesterday left fighting for his life after he was attacked by a great white shark while swimming in the sea near Cape Town, South Africa. He has been named as Michael Cohen, who had lived in the country for a long time and had a number of his family members living nearby…

More here.

Why don’t they go out and convince sharks to go vegan?

 

‘Jesus’ Mobile Phone Advert Banned

Watchdog received almost 100 complaints that Phones4U advert ‘mocked and belittled’ the Christian faith.

Good!

The advertising watchdog has banned a mobile phone ad featuring an image of Jesus Christ after receiving almost 100 complaints that it “mocked and belittled” the Christian faith.

Phones4U ran a national press campaign featuring a cartoon-like image of Jesus Christ giving a thumbs up and promoting “miraculous” deals on Samsung Android phones at Easter.

The Advertising Standards Authority received 98 complaints that the ads – two versions ran in national press – were offensive and the use of the term “miraculous”, especially during Easter, was disrespectful to the Christian faith.

Phones4U, which is known for its cheeky advertising, said it had aimed to create a “light-hearted, positive and contemporary image of Christianity relevant to the Easter weekend”.

The ASA said the imagery and text of the ads “gave the impression that they were mocking and belittling core Christian beliefs”.

It added that they were “disrespectful” to the Christian faith and were likely to cause serious offence. The ASA banned the ads from running…

That it is! Mocking the Sacred Heart of Jesus!

Read the rest here.

I’m just glad that they’re still willing to ban this sort of irreverent advertising.

Is Kia Promoting Pedophilia?

What are they thinking?!

A new Kia ad is raising eyebrows—with some even saying that it promotes pedophilia.

The ad, which promotes a dual-zone climate control feature in one of Kia’s cars, took home the Silver Press Lion at the prestigious Cannes Lion Awards. But it is controversial, to say the least.

The ad features a teacher lusting after his elementary school-aged student. On one side of the page, she appears as a young girl. On the other side, though, she becomes a scantily clad, buxom teen, seemingly as a product of the teacher’s imagination.

It’s clearly designed to shock, and is succeeding. The advertising blog Copyranter called it “one of the sleaziest car ads ever,” and noted that it doesn’t even visualize the benefits of dual climate control very well.

What do you think? Does the ad cross a line?

Here it is:

There is a poll here if you wish to vote.

Sick!

Easter Service Ad Pulled for Mentioning Jesus

An advertising agency for a national movie theater chain in Southern California has rejected a church’s advertisement for its Easter service because it mentions the name of Jesus.

The pre-movie 30-second commercial for Compass Bible Church in Aliso Viejo, Calif., aimed for viewers to consider whether Jesus actually rose from the dead. It was scheduled to run for three weeks on 45 movie screens across Orange County starting April 1. They paid more than $5,000, according to ABC.

The commercial targeted non-believers, inviting them to the church’s annual “Easter At The Bren” services, Sunday, April 24. The service is an annual event that hosts more than 5,000 attendees at the Bren Center on the University of California-Irvine campus.

It asked movie patrons, “Did it really happen?” And ended with “Why we actually believe in the resurrection.”

But the agency refused to show it, saying it has a policy of rejecting ads featuring religious figures. It also remarked that their constituents might be offended by such an advertisement…

That’s our wicked modern culture for you!

HT:  Antonio Lombatti