An advertisement in Italy depicting nuns eating crisps as communion wafers during the Holy Communion has caused controversy.
The 30-second advertisement by Amica Chips, one of Italy’s largest crisp companies, unfolds in a monastery with nuns preparing to receive the Holy Communion.
However, when the abbess realizes there are no communion wafers, she replaces them with crisps.
As the first nun receives the Holy Communion to the sounds of Ave Maria and realizes that instead of communion wafers there are crisps, she opens her eyes with the camera turning towards the abbess, who is enjoying the crisps.
Responding to criticism, the advertising agency that prepared the spot explained that their target was young people “with a sense of British humour.”
However, these explanations did not convince the Aiart viewers’ association, which demanded the “immediate withdrawal” of the advertisement, accusing the company of resorting to blasphemy to boost sales.
The advertisement also sparked a reaction from the Catholic newspaper, Avvenire, which wrote in its main article, “Christ has become a crisp. They have blasphemed him as they did 2,000 years ago.”
(With information from in.gr)
