Ad featuring gay priest banned in case it offends Catholics

The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned an ad showing two male priests about to kiss, on the grounds that it might offend Catholics. The ad had received only a handful of complaints.

The advertisement – for ice cream – has come from a company that has already been censured for showing nuns and priests in seductive poses, as well as a pregnant nun. However, only six people complained about the ice-cream ad, which has the tagline, “We believe in salivation.” The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it “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,” according to Pink News. The online gay news site quotes the ad company, Antonio Federici, which is a Catholic company, as arguing “that the ad did not mock Catholicism but reflected ‘grave troubles’ in the church such as the issue of gay priests.” Pink News continues: “The company said it believed many people found these issues more offensive than an ad which ‘celebrated’ homosexuality and added that it would continue to challenge the ‘troubled’ Catholic Church.” The ASA said the ad was likely to cause “serious offence.”