An ice cream firm has been banned from using an ad showing two priests about
to kiss just a month after being ordered to pull a campaign featuring a
pregnant nun.
The latest Antonio Federici ad, which appeared in Look magazine, showed two
priests in full robes eating from a tub of ice cream "in a seductive pose as
if they were about to kiss passionately", the Advertising Standards
Authority (ASA) said.
Accompanying text read: "We Believe in Salivation".
Defending the ad, the company said it did not mock Catholicism but "reflected
the grave troubles they considered affected the Catholic Church".
Antonio Federici was a Catholic company, but would continue to produce
advertising that challenged the Catholic Church while it believed it
remained troubled, it added.
Upholding six complaints about the ad, the ASA noted the ad used the text "We
Believe in Salivation" in reference to the taste of the product and to the
image of the priests.
The ASA said: "We considered the portrayal of the two priests in a sexualised
manner was likely to be interpreted as mocking the beliefs of Roman
Catholics and was therefore likely to cause serious offence to some
readers."
It ruled that the ad must not appear again and told Antonio Federici to ensure
future ads were not likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
Last month, the ASA banned another of the company's adverts showing a heavily
pregnant nun standing in a church holding a tub of ice cream and a spoon,
with text stating "Immaculately conceived" and "Ice cream is our religion".
The ASA said the ad, which appeared in The Lady and Grazia magazines, was
"making a mockery" of the beliefs of Roman Catholics.
SIC: BT/UK