I suppose ad agencies do this kind of thing so that their ads will get further play from the media. Anyway, Sony has ceased running their ad in Italian newspapers that showed a video game player wearing a crown of thorns, with the thorns in the shape of the squares, crosses, triangles, and circles of the Playstation’s signature game controller. The ad was titled, “Ten years of passion,” recalling the 10th anniversary of the Playstation.
Ha, ha, ho, ho, my sides are aching. So funny. So clever. Nobody’s ever mocked Jesus Christ before or slandered his Passion. It’s just so shocking and original. Not.
The ad was slammed by prominent figures of the Roman Catholic Church within hours of appearing in Italian newspapers and magazines.
Italian Cardinal Ersilio Tonini was among the first to speak out, calling it “an irreverent mockery”.
“The advertisement displays a lack of taste which conceals a lack of respect. Kids shouldn’t be induced into believing that the passion of Christ is a game,” Tonini was quoted as saying on Friday.
The ad was also slammed by Catholic politicians, with one conservative lawmaker dismissing it as “nearly blasphemous”.
Nearly?
They also yanked the ad after the outrage and then used the “misunderstood” explantion.
But did it get noticed? Did it get any publicity over and above simple readership? Yes! I’ll never buy another Sony.
I read last week that – I think it was also Italy – they displayed ads of Da Vinci’s Last Supper scene with Jesus and all holding cards, along with poker chips on the table.
And then, in Romania, photos of Hitler and Ceausescu are in advertisements persuading people to adopt stray dogs – the slogan being “A dog loves you just the way you are.”
Looks like blasphemy and cynicism are the next steps above sex in the selling of one’s wares. Oh, what will we get to see next?!
Check out [url=http://www.commercialcloset.org]http://www.commercialcloset.org[/url] sometime…
One of the ads reviewed on their site…
“With the perfect suburban setting of a bike laying in a front yard, then a perfect home inside, with family pictures, a father’s voice says, “Son, life isn’t all about money. Nah—family, health, happiness, those are the imporant things. I guess what I’m really trying to say is…”
The son is now shown in a hallway, looking into his parents’ room. Dad is then revealed to be wearing a dress, wig, pearls and makeup. He continues, “How much will it cost to keep this from your mother?”
The kid looks up in complete amazement, as dad has obviously been caught cross-dressing.”
This was a Ninetendo commercial which ‘came out’ in 2001.
Now to advertise the new Nintendo DS, Ninetendo’s slogan is “Touching is Good”…
I guess I’m really out of touch. When I looked at the picture of the man with a crown, I thought it was a play on laurel leaves and “passion” a play on the sexual variety. Those things on the crown don’t have points. What kind of a crown of thorns lacks points?
Hey, if you don’t even get the message is it still blasphemous?
I think God will judge us not on how ‘successful’ our evil deeds are, but on the fact that we intended to do evil … so that if the intent was blasphemy, then it indeed was.
Yes, our intentions must be pure and upright.