Offence taken? Nun intended!

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an ice cream company from placing posters near the Pope's itinerary, or anywhere else for that matter, saying it mocked Roman Catholic beliefs. The advert showed a pregnant nun eating ice cream in a church, together with the strap line "immaculately conceived". In a riposte to this decision, the advert's creator Antonio Federici, a UK-based company, says it will place them outside Westminster Abbey.

The ASA said in its ruling, "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 lighthearted way to advertise ice cream was likely to cause serious offence to readers, particularly those who practised the Roman Catholic faith." Emm?!? Why only Roman Catholics? This is where the whole concept of giving offence is often misunderstood. It would help if the ASA had an idea of who might be offended. I'm not, but the ASA doesn't know if I might be because they passed over the Anglican Catholics, the Orthodox, and many others. In fact, all credal Christians believe in the Immaculate Conception.

I bet the ASA don't know about Anglican nuns. Is it an Anglican nun in the poster? If so, could she offend Roman Catholics by being just that? And are the Abbey authorities going to say anything about these posters? Could be offensive to Anglicans. I see a can of worms now instead of ice cream. Oh dear!

Search Engine Oh-what-can-the-matter-be?

I heard today on the radio that Google has a new fancy search engine aide. It's sort of intelligent and helps you to think. It may also affect the way the SEO industry does business. All I know is that there is an alphabetical pecking order (yes, it's another one!) with ABC meaning quite a lot to some. When I type in "A" I get Argos as first choice whether I want them or not. "B" is for the BBC. If I go further I get a new set of choices. The second letter entered gives a wider selection. Put more than four letters in and it decides to wait. It's a bit like the Two Ronnies sketch with Ronnie Barker trying to finish Ronnie Corbett's sentences.

The advertising world is getting a bit jittery. I see all this as them second-guessing Google's search engine. Mind-blowing in its own right. Last night I watched the opening episode of Mad Men. Don Draper got so fed up with two prissy clients he basically told them to bikini off. Great stuff. Advertising is something that is neither here nor there. It's in the moment and that moment is as transitory as advertising itself. Pitch seems to be everything. Some may see Don's actions as masterful others as mad. Mad Men is a good title. I once chucked out a pair of double glazing salesmen. As difficult as the swimwear puritans but far less starchy! Sometimes the seller overdoes it, sometimes it's the sold to that gets mad. Mad Men is great. If Google had been around then who knows what would be the case.

Lord Leverhulme of the soap powder family once lamented that he would like to cut his advertising bill in half but he had no idea which half. That's the trouble with advertising. Today it's far more than a game of two halves. It's like a chess game crossed with a lottery. Unless of course you are Argos, the BBC, etc, etc.