Marithe et François Girbaud Ad Banned

[brian]

French court bans Christ advert
Friday, 11 March, 2005

France's Catholic Church has won a court injunction to ban a clothing advertisement based on Leonardo da Vinci's Christ's Last Supper.

The display was ruled "a gratuitous and aggressive act of intrusion on people's innermost beliefs", by a judge.

The church objected to the female version of the fresco, which includes a female Christ, used by clothing designers Marithe et Francois Girbaud.

The authorities in the Italian city of Milan banned the poster last month.

The French judge in the case ordered that all posters on display should be taken down within three days.

The association which represented the church was also awarded costs.

The designers are said to be planning an appeal, saying they did not intend to offend anyone with the campaign.

'Trivialising'

Italy's advertising watchdog said the ad's use of Christian symbols including a dove and a chalice recalled the foundations of the faith and would offend the sensitivity of part of the population.

The Catholic Church used a similar argument against the advert, which also shows two of the apostles embracing a bare-chested man in jeans.

"When you trivialise the founding acts of a religion, when you touch on sacred things, you create an unbearable moral violence which is a danger to our children," said lawyer Thierry Massis.

"Tomorrow, Christ on the cross will be selling socks."

But lawyers for the fashion house said banning the image would amount to censorship.

"The work is a photograph based on a painting, not on the Bible," said lawyer Bernard Cahen.

"There is nothing in it that is offensive to the Catholic religion. It is a way of showing the place of women in society today, which is a reflection of our changing values."

The campaign is said to have been inspired by Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code which refers to the 15th-Century fresco.

- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4337031.stm

 

[maarit]

how much useful things could be done by the courts if the didn't waste their time on trivial things.

 

[Lena]

it was a huge scandal when it got banned few weeks ago, its an amazing beautiful ad, the imagery doesnt bother me at all, at least they got brilliant advertisement out of this stupid ban

 

[droogist]

"The work is a photograph based on a painting, not on the Bible," said lawyer Bernard Cahen.

Yes

how much useful things could be done by the courts if the didn't waste their time on trivial things.

Yes

I find silliness like this quite exasperating.

 

[MaLkAv]

The same ad has been banned here in Italy too... that's sick... I wish catholic moral was just a "moral", and not the law.

 

[czilla]

beautiful ad The empty plate is too nice a touch... I'm giggling just looking at it.

I spy... a slit balloon skirt/dress? could it be? (2nd girl from left) a mini puffball right next to it? Lovely.

 

[princess_tess]

I love it...

 

[Dosomething]

Its very beautiful. I like it alot.

 

[Gallianogown]

Is religion so weak that anything referencing it gets banned?

 

[PrinceOfCats]

I'm sure Jesus never proscribed his image being used in jeans adverts.

 

[iperlchen]

Sweet Lord, I just don't get things like this. All the fuss.. there's a fine line between offending and expressing. These people are jumping to really weird conclusions, why? Are they starting to feel like their faith and religion is unsettled?

Italy's advertising watchdog said the ad's use of Christian symbols including a dove and a chalice recalled the foundations of the faith and would offend the sensitivity of part of the population.

Is religion so weak that anything referencing it gets banned?

Good question Gallianogown!

This really is a captivating ad, all the little details, and the poses! How did they manage to make it look like the models are sitting in the air. Or are they?

 

[MTRLBY]

very provocative..loves it.

 

[gallianoke]

my god, that's sick, i love that ad! what the hell is wrong with it?

 

[Estella*]

silly, i agree. but they certainly get more attention now

off-topic: i love the shoes!

 

[purplelucrezia]

I'm sure Jesus never proscribed his image being used in jeans adverts.

Exactly, as much as I enjoy the concept aesthetically, I also find it offensive.

 

[AudiEC]

I like the ad, one of the best I've ever seen. Although the half naked male model bothers me, that isn't in the original painting, it doesn't go well with all the pictures of the women, perhaps that is what bothered the church. Oh well, it's good publicity for the company.

 

[faust]

"The display was ruled "a gratuitous and aggressive act of intrusion on people's innermost beliefs", by a judge."


And the ban by the French govt. on wearing attributes prescribed by religion in public schools is not "a gratuitous and aggressive act of intrusion on people's innermost beliefs"?

 

[Spacemiu]

I can't see it been ofenzive at all, it's not anti-christian even, I didn't even realize what it was supso to be at first, it's wonderful though.

 

[MaLkAv]

Smart remark Faust... France is always quite "surprising" when it comes down to the state-religion interaction... maybe it is so because historically they are Christian, plus a lot of Muslim people live in France, and then they have a very strong Laicism, since France is where Enlightenment sprang... and there are all the other minoritary religions as well...

I agree that both the italian and the french ban on the ad have been quite useful to M.andF.G.

 

[PrinceOfCats]

"The display was ruled "a gratuitous and aggressive act of intrusion on people's innermost beliefs", by a judge."


And the ban by the French govt. on wearing attributes prescribed by religion in public schools is not "a gratuitous and aggressive act of intrusion on people's innermost beliefs"?

A government founded on liberty, equality and fraternity versus a rabidly conservative judiciary.

Judges are always the first to turn to the dark side anyway.