An Italian ad depicting nuns eating potato chips as communion wafers has stirred up controversy in the predominantly Catholic country. In the Amica Chips ad, a young nun is depicted receiving communion from a priest wearing thick Coke-bottle glasses. As she takes a bite, they both realize the communion wafer isn't quite what it seems. You hear crunching as the camera then reveals an older nun sitting nearby, enjoying a bag of potato chips.
As the communion wafer, with wine, is meant to represent the blood and body of Christ, the spot naturally has not gone over well with some of the country's Catholic organizations.
Giovanni Baggio, the head of AIART, a Catholic group that monitors Italian radio and television, called the ad "blasphemy."
In a statement, Baggio said the 30-second commercial was "outrageous" and that it "offends the sensitivity of millions of practicing Catholics by trivializing the comparison between the potato chip and the consecrated object."
The Catholic newspaper Avvenire also criticized the ad in an editorial: "Christ has been reduced to a potato chip. Debased and vilified like 2,000 years ago."
CNN
Because of this controversy, the commercial has been ordered off the air by Italy's broadcasting standards group, IAP. The chips company has seven days to appeal the decision. However, this order does not include online viewing–so, buona visione! [via CNN]
Thanks, Tracy!
Previously: Olive Garden now serving Italian nachos
