Ice cream ad showing gay priests ruled offensive
An ad for Antonio Federici ice cream that shows two men dressed as priests about to kiss has been banned by the advertising watchdog because it is offensive to Catholics, the third time in two years the ice cream maker has been censured.
The magazine advertisement appeared in Look magazine and states “we believe in salivation” next to a picture of the two men.
Campaigns featuring a woman dressed as a pregnant nun and a priest and a nun in a seductive pose have also been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The ice-cream maker said that the campaign did not “mock” Catholicism but reflected the “grave troubles” it considered affected the Catholic Church. It adds that the issue of gay and lesbian bishops and priest currently divided the Church of England and was likely to continue to do so.
Antonio Frederici says that it was a Catholic company
The ASA says that it considered the portrayal of two priests “in a sexualised manner” was likely to be seen as mocking the beliefs of Roman Catholics and likely to cause “serious offence” to some readers. It ruled that the ad must not appear again and told the ice-cream maker to make sure future ads were not likely to cause offence.
