The Red Bull energy drink company has dropped the ‘Jesus walks on water‘ campaign in South Africa.
The campaign originally aired on Tuesday but was gone by Wednesday after successful protests from Catholics and Muslims who labelled the ad ‘offensive’.
The cartoon ad picks up on the familiar Gospel story of Jesus walking on the water, and implies that Jesus is able to walk on water, not because it was a miracle, but because he drank Red Bull, which gave him ‘wiiings’.
The ad also introduced a tone of blasphemy, using the word ‘jesus’, other than as a proper noun.
In response, South Africa’s bishops acknowledged Red Bull’s history of clever ads, but Cardinal Wilfred Napier said that with this ad, “Red Bull South Africa have overstepped a mark”.
“In a multi-faith country like South Africa, where over 70 percent of people profess to be people of faith, the use of faith-based symbols in a satirical, if tongue-in-cheek manner, is guaranteed to cause a reaction,” he said.
Stopping short of calling for a full commercial boycott, the cardinal however recommended that Catholics send a message to Red Bull and give the drink up for Lent.
“In this way, Red Bull SA will understand that the idea that there is ‘no such thing as bad publicity’ is dangerous territory when it comes to mocking religious symbols,” said Napier.
South Africa’s Muslim Judicial Council also warned of the consequences of extreme consumerism against any faith and said insult and satire of Jesus “targeted the very foundation of Islamic theology”, reports the Lake Wylie Pilot.
Pulling the ad, Red Bull said in a statement it was never their intention to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Sources
- Lake Wylie Pilot
- Times Live
- Image: Red Bull