ASA raps religious ice cream ad

An advertisement for an Italian ice cream brand that showed a priest and a nun in a seductive pose has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority because it is likely to cause “serious” offence.

Antonio Federici advert

The ad for Antonio Federici’s Gelato Italiano ice cream shows a nun in full habit and a rosary bead-wearing priest holding a pot of ice cream posed as if they were about to kiss. Text states “kiss temptation”.

Ten people complained the ad suggested the two were about to kiss so “demeaned people who had chosen to follow a religious vocation”.

The watchdog says the nun and priest are portrayed in a “sexualised manner” in the ad and the implication that they are considering whether to give into temptation “was likely to cause serious offence to some readers”.

Antonio Federici says the ad “was intended as a light-hearted, tongue in cheek portrayal celebrating forbidden Italian temptations”.

The ad must not in run again in its current form.