Almost one hundred complaints have been received by the Advertising Standards Authority over a mobile phone advert that features an image of Jesus.

According to recent reports a mobile phone advertisement that featured an image of Jesus has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority after it was claimed that the ad “mocked and belittled” the Christian faith. Almost one hundred complaints were received about the advertisement, which was a national press campaign being run by Phones4U.

The adverts included a cartoon image of Jesus who was putting his thumbs up and praising the ‘miraculous’ deals that were available on Samsung Android phones. However, the ninety eight complaints that were received by the advertising watchdog said that the advertisements were offensive.

The campaign was run over the Easter period and officials from Phones4U said that the aim behind the advertising campaign had been to create a “light-hearted, positive and contemporary image of Christianity relevant to the Easter weekend”.

However, officials from the ASA said that the content and graphics on the advertisements “gave the impression that they were mocking and belittling core Christian beliefs”. The watchdog said that the ads were disrespectful to Christians and could cause offense. Phones4U said that it was sorry for any offence that had been caused and that it understood the reaction that had resulted from the advertisements. The firm also said that it would not be running any campaigns that were similar to this one, having withdrawn the ad after receiving complaints directly from consumers.

Source – Guardian