Vatican Seeks Legal Protection of Pope's Image
Secretariat of State Respond to Fake Photo in Benetton Ads
VATICAN CITY, NOV. 17, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican secretariat of state is seeking legal protection for the Pope's image after an advertising campaign in Italy made use of a fake photograph of Benedict XVI.
According to a statement from the Vatican today, "The Secretariat of State has authorized its lawyers to initiate actions, in Italy and elsewhere, to prevent the circulation, via the mass media and in other ways, of a photomontage used in a Benetton advertising campaign in which the Holy Father appears in a way considered to be harmful, not only to the dignity of the Pope and the Catholic Church, but also to the sensibility of believers."
The ad campaign portrays various world leaders kissing on the mouth those who are or could be perceived as their enemies. The image portrayed as Benedict XVI is kissing the image of Imam Ahmed el-Tayyeb of Cairo's Al-Azhar mosque. The mosque also protested the ad, calling it irresponsible.
U.S. President Barack Obama is portrayed kissing China's President Hu Jintao. The White House also protested.
The director of the Vatican press office already responded to the ad when it was released Wednesday.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi's statement said the Vatican "cannot but express a resolute protest at the entirely unacceptable use of a manipulated image of the Holy Father, used as part of a publicity campaign which has commercial ends.
"It is a serious lack of respect for the Pope, an affront to the feelings of the faithful and an evident demonstration of how, in the field of advertising, the most elemental rules of respect for others can be broken in order to attract attention by provocation."
Benetton withdrew the advertisement showing the Pope and offered an apology.
Benetton’s ‘Unhate’ ad campaign spotlights Photoshopped images of world leaders kissing, sparks outrage from Vatican
Among shocking images is Pope smooching Egyptian Iman Ahmed el Tayyeb
BY
Bill Hutchinson
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Gabriel Bouys/Getty Images
People look at a photo montage of Benetton's racy new ad campaign.
An Italian luxury clothier is getting heat for an ad campaign featuring Pope Benedict XVI locking lips with an Egyptian imam.
The Benetton ads are in keeping with the company’s tradition of using unorthodox marketing and socially-conscious messages to sell scarves and sweaters.
The ads also include PhotoShopped images of President Obama kissing his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
There was no immediate comment from the White House.
But Benetton’s so-called “Unhate” ad campaign, launched Wednesday, generated an immediate and angry rebuke from the Vatican.
“This is a grave lack of respect for the Pope,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said of the photo manipulation that shows the Pope smooching Egyptian Imam Ahmed el Tayyeb.
Photoshopped image shows President Obama kissing Hugo Chavez.(Courtesy of Benetton)
Lombardi said it was not only offensive to the “sentiments of the faithful,” but “a clear example of how advertising can violate elementary rules of respect for people in order to attract attention through provocation.”
Benetton apologized, but has no plans to alter the campaign.
“We are sorry that the use of an image of the pontiff and the imam should have offended the sensibilities of the faithful in this way,” the company said in a statement.
On its website, Benetton explained that the “Unhate” promotion “invites us to consider that hate and love are not as far away from each other as we think.”
The ads also feature a photo illustration of German Chancellor Angela Merkel kissing French President Nicholas Sarkozy and videos riffing on the Arab Spring uprising and the Occupy Wall Street movement.
“Our campaign promotes a shift in the balance: don’t hate, Unhate,” the company says on its web site.
In previous ad campaigns, Benetton has used an AIDS-afflicted man on his deathbed, a priest kissing a nun and a black woman breast-feeding a white baby.
Read more at www.nydailynews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment