This print advertisement comes from an ice-cream company Antonio Federici. It is regarded as offensive to Roman Catholics as a pregnant nun is used. Does the ad represent how it appears unilaterally as offensive to religion? Is there another way to interpret it?
There are some arguments towards this ad. First, this advertisement apparently breaks the rule maintained by Roman Catholic that nun should not have sexual affair nor having babies. A pregnant nun is seen to be guilty of betraying her belief while the slogan "immaculately conceived” suggests that the nun is pure even she is pregnant. This is a kind of rudeness to the religion.
Second, the controversial message shows loose linkage with the main advertising theme “ice-cream is our religion”. It is not necessary to offend the principle of a religion in order to express how loyal they are towards ice-cream making.
However, there is a deeper story beyond the surface meaning of the advertisement, as mentioned by a spokesperson from Federici. It aimed to against to the situation that "thousands of pregnant Irish women enslaved by the Catholic church in convents and who had their children taken away from them by nuns because they were seen as 'moral degenerates'" The company thought it was cruel and so wanted to show their support to the Irish mothers by the ad.
I think there are two sides to see the ad. Undoubtedly, it displeased the religious people, but on the other hand, it may have raised the public awareness towards the issue of Irish mothers.
Refernce:http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jun/18/fedirici-ice-cream-advert-asa#_
