Fr. Federico Lombardi
Posted on 11/17/2011 1:20:50 PM PST by NYer
.- The Vatican will take legal action against Italian clothing company Benetton to prevent the circulation of an ad featuring Pope Benedict XVI kissing a Muslim imam.
The move on Nov. 17 comes a day after Benetton hastily withdrew the image from a new advertising campaign following protests from both religions.
“The Secretariat of State has authorized its lawyers to initiate actions, in Italy and elsewhere, to prevent the circulation, via the mass media and in other ways, of a photomontage used in a Benetton advertising campaign in which the Holy Father appears in a way considered to be harmful, not only to the dignity of the Pope and the Catholic Church, but also to the sensibility of believers,” read the Vatican's Nov. 17 statement.
The image was used as part of a new advertising campaign by Benetton titled “UNHATE” which was launched yesterday at a press conference in Paris. It was immediately followed by the unveiling of a new poster campaign at various locations around the globe.
The posters feature various religious and political leaders kissing each other on the mouth including a mock-up of Pope Benedict XVI kissing Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, the Imam of the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo.
A large banner bearing the image was unfurled from a bridge over the River Tiber in Rome. Within a few hours, however, the image had been withdrawn.
“We are so sorry that the use of the image of the Pope and the Imam has so offended the sensibilities of the faithful in this way,” said a spokesman for Benetton Nov. 16. “In confirmation of our feelings we have decided, with immediate effect, to withdraw this image from every publication.”
The Islamic religious authorities in Rome are also threatening to take legal action against Benetton for defamation.
“It is a serious lack of respect for the Pope, an affront to the feelings of the faithful and an evident demonstration of how, in the field of advertising, the most elemental rules of respect for others can be broken in order to attract attention by provocation,” said Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. Nov. 16.
Other posters include U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Hu Jintao and the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Benetton is an Italian based fashion company with around 6000 stores in 120 countries. Their main clothing brand, the United Colors of Benetton, has become known in recent decades for the shock value of their publicity stunts.
In 1991, the company ran a poster campaign featuring a young priest in black cassock about to kiss a nun. Catholic groups subsequently failed in legal attempts to have the image removed from over 1300 billboard sites across the United States.
Other images used in recent years by Benetton have included a young man dying from AIDS, a bloodied newborn baby with uncut umbilical cord, a colorful mix of condoms, the blood stained uniform of a dead Bosnian soldier and pictures of inmates on death row.
Real reason Benetton is withdrawing ad.
“They got the free publicity they were trolling for.”
Brilliant on their depraved part. I’ve been encountering this all day and never at the expense of Benetton. Drudge with pictures, Rush and more than once on FR.
Indeed. Who, after all, fears the wrath of Christians?
"This thread is no good without pictures."
Are they withdrawing it? Good news.
Even the WH was threatening to take action - probably the only time I have ever agreed with them. Taking photos of public figures and photoshopping them into disgusting poses for advertising purposes cannot possibly have any legal justification.
Go find it yourself. It’s been all over the place.
Bwhahaha...uhmmmm...does a picture of the Pope kissing helen thomas count?
That’s disgusting.
It sure would be a shame if someone made a fake Benetton ad of Mad Mo kissing a pig.
Muslims are understanding people and love a good joke.
That could be seen as charity, as penance or as a miracle.
They were stupid to defame the Pope but it may be that they were foolish to mock islam...time will tell.
BWHAHAHAA!!! You KNOW, you’ve got a point there. “Have I not suffered enough, Lord...”
Soon to be the Scattered/Scorched Garments of Benetton after a few inevitable bombings by angry islamists.
“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”....The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned the advert a month after upholding similar complaints about another Antonio Federici ad that featured a heavily pregnant woman dressed as a nun alongside the words “immaculately conceived” and “ice cream is our religion”.Hyundai and ABC Sports mock Catholics during the World Cup
The ad begins with singing in Latin, and depicts an Argentine “church” – complete with a stained-glass window of a soccer ball -- in which the wildly popular sport is clearly what’s being worshiped...."worshipers" on their knees receiving slices of pizza rather than the communion host....a soccer ball covered with a crown of thorns
All of these are photoshopped. They are a series of ads with different world figures doing lip-locks.
I’m not sure exactly why Benetton thought this would be a good advertising campaign, or what they were advertising, but I’d say it’s not working. Even the White House is requesting them to stop running the ads with Obama doing what appears to be french-kissing various figures.
Other images used in recent years by Benetton have included a young man dying from AIDS, a bloodied newborn baby with uncut umbilical cord, a colorful mix of condoms, the blood stained uniform of a dead Bosnian soldier and pictures of inmates on death row.
^^^
How nice....
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