Ice Cream Company Fights Back After Controversial Ads Banned

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With the Pope’s visit to Britain swiftly approaching, one ice-cream company has mounted its own very special protest. Its advertisement ran in a number of British publications earlier this year and depicted a heavily pregnant nun standing in a church, eating ice cream. The text read “Immaculately conceived” and “Ice cream is our religion.” It was banned by the U.K.’s Advertising Standards for being offensive to Christians.

The company Antonio Fedirici argued that the word “conception” referred to the making of their product and that the use of religious imagery was partly designed to represent the company’s devotion to ice cream. They did, however, admit that part of the purpose of the ad was to “comment on and question, using satire and gentle humor, the relevance and hypocrisy of religion and the attitudes of the church to social issues.”

Last year the Advertising Standards Agency also banned an ad campaign from Antonio Fedirici featuring a nun and priest about to share a kiss. For the ice cream company, the most recent ban seems to be the final straw. A spokeswoman for the firm said they would defy the ban by publishing another advert involving “a continuation of the theme”. “We intend to defy the ASA’s ban and will publish another advert from the series before the Pope’s visit later this week,” she said. “We are in the process of securing a series of billboards close to and along the planned route of the Pope’s cavalcade around Westminster Cathedral.”

Oh dear. Pope Ben will not be pleased to hear of yet more drama surrounding his visit to the U.K., even if protests from an ice cream manufacturer are the least of his worries. (via Sky News)

–Frances Perraudin