In defiance of a ruling by the British Advertising Standards Authority—doesn’t that ring quaintly on the ear: Advertising Standards Authority—an ice cream company has announced its intent to plaster the Pope’s route through London to Westminster Cathedral with images “continuing the theme” of a poster already banned by the ASA.
Though the new posters have yet to appear, and the ASA has declined to comment on what it hasn’t yet seen staring it in the face all over London, the UK-based Antonio Federici has said that it “wished to comment on and question, using satire and gentle humour, the relevance and hypocrisy of religion and the attitudes of the church to social issues.”
Listen to us! Social commentary brought to you by your ice cream! Apparently Antonio Federici can hold, simultaneously, both this official position and the one in which they claim that “the idea of conception represented the development of their ice cream,” and that religious imagery merely suggests the company’s “strong feeling towards its product,” and really, anyone who objects to anything about this ought to try thinking metaphorically once in a while and not go getting all knicker-twisted. It’s ice cream.
But it’s not just any ice cream. This ice cream is relevant, yet hypocritical. Plus it’s all a bit of lighthearted fun. In which, of course, the Pope and his cavalcade must be forced to take part, for the good of society, in a satirical yet gently humourous kind of way.
September 15th, 2010 | 4:35 pm
If I just saw this ad in the street, I would interpret it as a invitation to not be one of those prudish religious types, to “let your hair down” a bit, and indulge in some high-calorie ice cream I guess that means it’s not a very effective ad.
Even after reading this explanation, I remain perplexed regarding what “social commentary” an image of a pregnant nun eating ice cream is supposed to represent. Is the company suggesting that their devotion to ice cream is analogous to a nun’s devotion to God? Exactly which “social issues” are being addressed here?
September 15th, 2010 | 5:12 pm
Some of their other ads feature priests and nuns kissing, if that gives you an idea which way they’re tending here. A nun eating ice cream doesn’t seem provocative at all, but a *pregnant* nun eating ice cream is a more in-your-face statement about the repressive ol’ (or the blind-and-hypocritical ol’) Catholic Church. And I imagine that by “social issues,” what the company means are sexual issues, specifically.
I’m actually of two minds about the whole banning thing. On the one hand, the ad campaign is bad manners, which is sort of par for the course for most of the public commentary surrounding the Pope’s visit. Compared with what people are saying, particularly online, particularly in comments on articles and blog posts dealing with this visit, a pregnant nun eating ice cream is very mild. Still: not very host-city-like, to paper the route to Westminster Cathedral with images like this.
On the other hand, though I find this kind of thing offensive, I don’t think that “people will be offended” is a reason for limiting expression in an official, governmental capacity. That the government wants to clap the lid on this ad campaign is in its own way as disturbing as the fact that the ice-cream company is determined to be offensive in the face of a ban.
I am not an entrepreneur in the least, but it seems to me that being more in love with what you view as a controversial (if gently humourous) social-commentary-ish (but really, we just love our ice cream that much) ad campaign than with whether or not people who view your ad, some of whom may be Catholic, wlll buy your ice cream, does not seem like a very big stride down the road to success.
(though again, it’s quite possible that more people in England would applaud the ice-cream company than would applaud the Pope, so maybe it’s a smarter move than I’m giving them credit for).
September 15th, 2010 | 6:10 pm
There is no one smugger than a Brit with his knickers in a twist. Going back to WWII Ike’s policy was to listen fully to the tactics suggested by his Brit aides and then order Allied troops to do something wildly different.
September 16th, 2010 | 4:38 am
[...] WhispersPregnant nuns like ice cream and sex, or something - New Humanist BlogThe Social Commentary of Ice Cream Ads - First ThoughtsSee all 21 blogs. Entertainment – Google Blog [...]
September 16th, 2010 | 10:38 am
All well and good. And will they allow a Funny Ayatollah poster? How about Mohammed eating a hot dog? For some reason I think not.
September 17th, 2010 | 10:13 am
Talk about your stupid business decisions.
I’m Catholic and a devoted consumer of ice cream. In fact, my fondness for ice cream veers dangerously into seven deadly sins territory.
But I won’t be purchasing Antonio Federici ice cream, that’s for sure.
I don’t know why they’d want to alienate any potential customers for the sake of “lighthearted social commentary.”
I don’t get it, although you may be right in that far more people in the UK may be inspired to try the product as a result of the ad than those who are offended by it (obviously Catholics are a distinct minority over there).
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