Clothing Company Ad Disrespects Christians Through the Image of the Pope
An advertisment campaign of the clothing company Benetton featured the Pope kissing intensely the Islamic Shek of the Al-Azhar Mosque on the lips. The campaign is called UnHate and claims to stand for peace in the world. The image of the pope kissing the imam implies that the Pope would currently "hate" the Imam, or be intolerant towards Muslims. After many protests, Benetton removed the photo montage off their website. It seems however, that the provocation - as well as the removal - was planned as a PR campaign from the beginning.
Further links:The campaign: http://unhate.benetton.com
A famous former Benetton photographer opposes the hurting of feelings of the faithful in an interview: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h0UoIBWegpQvvA_ABwK2BCrPQbdQ?docId=CNG.7fd3ca9982880137e3930c5b6a87b7f9.8a1
Vatican spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi said in a statement that the ad was "an offence against the sentiments of the faithful and a clear example of how advertising can violate elementary rules of respect for people in order to attract attention through provocation," reports CBC on http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/11/16/benetton-pope-vatican-kissing-obama.html