See comments for update.
Via Chris Wysocki, an incredibly offensive commercial which mocks the Catholic Mass:
What at first appears to be a consecrated Host morphs into a soccer ball. Communicants at the rail receive pizza instead of the Holy Eucharist. Clever! Not sure how they omitted mocking the Blessed Mother. Or perhaps they did and I missed it. I'd rather not watch it again for all the nuances.
Chris reports that it was aired by ABC and provides contact information:
Most recent posts here.
Terrible. Anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable prejudice. What genius decided this ad should air? Mocking the faith of 25% of your potential customers is bad business.
ReplyDeleteI second Lisa's sentiment. This is scandalous and is in extremely poor taste.
ReplyDeleteRev. Moon must have tossed these Kim Chee slurpers the old imprimatur.
ReplyDeleteWas that indelicate? Dear me.
You don't have to be Catholic, or even Christian, to know this ad is horribly offensive.
ReplyDeleteI sent in my complaints via the links you posted.
I want to see a 30-second apology spot featuring all the people at Hyundai and ESPN who thought this was a good idea. I'd like to see their faces in hi-def.
I'm never going near a Hyundai dealership, and ESPN just got deleted from my satellite TV menu.
It's remarkable that this made it through a (presumably) lengthy process to get to airtime. No one could give it a thumbs-dowm?
ReplyDeleteIt mocks the center of Catholic life: the Mass and the Eucharist. Astonishing.
No Hyundai for me! This is beyond reproach.
ReplyDeleteHey Pundette - just read on Fr Z that Hyundai's pulled the ad.
ReplyDeleteHooray!
ReplyDeleteSee QR's comments at Potluck on how Hyundai justified the ad, and its removal.
http://potluckbloggers.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/hyundai-ad-mocks-catholicism/
Oops - justification was from ESPN. Removal explanation was from Hyundai.
ReplyDeleteESPN's response is a real head-shaker:
"Dear Affronted,
Thank you for giving us an opportunity to respond.
This is a product category that has received an acceptance in television, and the specific spot cleared ESPN’s advertisement standard review. We recognize that not all our viewers will view these ads as appropriate but as a national network with broad appeal, our standards recognize the widely divergent tastes of our national viewers and advertisers.
We appreciate your feedback and have shared your comments with our advertising and programming executives.
Sincerely,
ESPN Viewer Response"