'Pregnant nun' ice cream advert banned after Catholic outcry (on eve of Pope's visit)

An ice cream advertisement featuring a pregnant nun has been banned by watchdogs on the eve of the Pope's visit to Britain.

The news may well be welcomed by the Catholic church at a time when some of its leadership have expressed alarm over declining morality in the UK.

One leading figure in the church in this country recently described Britain as a 'selfish, hedonistic wasteland'.

Offensive? Pope Benedict XVI probably wouldn't be amused but the ice cream manufacturer has defended its right to use satire and gentle humour to advertise its products

A magazine ad for Antonio Federici ice cream showed a heavily pregnant nun standing in a church holding a tub of ice cream in one hand and a spoon in the other.



The text stated: 'Immaculately Conceived ... Ice cream is our religion.'

The Advertising Standards Authority(ASA) received complaints from people who felt it was offensive to Christians, particularly to those who practised Catholicism.

The manufacturer said they wanted to highlight how serious they were about producing a high quality product.

However, they also told the watchdog that the imagery also stemmed from 'their wish 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'.

The ASA said the company insisted it had a right to free expression.

Divine intervention: Could it be a coincidence that the pregnant nun ad was banned the day before the Pope arrives for his state visit to Britain?

They said they 'did not believe offence had been so deeply felt as to affect their right, as marketers, to free expression and that offence caused to a small minority should not affect the ability of the wider public to see their ad.



'They believed that, as a form of art and self-expression, advertising should be challenging and often iconoclastic.'

The advertisement appeared in The Lady magazine, which subsequently admitted that it had been a mistake to publish it.

The magazine, which is edited by Rachel Johnson, who is the sister of the London mayor, said it regretted the offence caused to readers.

A second magazine, Grazia, argued the advertisement was intended to be lighthearted and was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

However, in a ruling published today, the ASA said industry codes state that ads 'should contain nothing that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence. Particular care should be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or disability.'

The watchdog said: 'We considered the use of a nun pregnant through immaculate conception was likely to be seen as a distortion and mockery of the beliefs of Roman Catholics.



'We concluded that to use such an image in a light hearted way to advertise ice cream was likely to cause serious offence to readers, particularly those who practised the Roman Catholic faith.'

It said the advertisement had breached decency rules and should not be published again.

The idea of the ASA supporting the concerns of Catholics is rather at odds with its stance on other issues. The watchdog and sister bodies recently approved the TV advertising of condoms before the 9pm watershed.

Last month the ASA rejected complaints about a TV commercial for Marie Stopes clinics which Catholics and others believed was promoting abortion services.

Recently, a senior figure in the Catholic church described Britain as a 'selfish, hedonistic wasteland' and the 'epicentre of the culture of death'.

