With yesterday being the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, it might do Catholics well to continue reflecting not only on the Body and Blood of Christ but also concerning how far clever marketers are willing to go to desecrate the Eucharist with the goal of promoting their products.
For example, consider the Australian company, AussieMite, which makes a spread of “the finest ingredients.”
According to the company’s website:
AussieMite was founded by Roger Ramsey. His dream was to bring the best tasting savoury spread, made from the finest nutritions ingredients, a true Australian product, in support of fellow Australians.
We are grateful for all the support over the years and proud of our premium delicious product. It’s been a labour of love, as we strive to do our very best.
We hope you enjoy our delicious savoury spread.
Mr. Ramsey must surely believe the contents of his commercial appropriate. Why not promote the product by lampooning a central tenet of the Catholic faith? Or, Mr. Ramsey might ask, “Don’t Catholics have sense enough to realize the humor?” Or, might it be that Mr. Ramsey thinks the Eucharist is nothing more than a superstitious belief deserving of being mocked in order to promote his product to like-minded people?
Whatever.
It works.
As Brendan O’Donnell noted on the company’s Facebook page:
Thye ad is actually quite funny. Perhaps it’s time that the silent majorities around the world stopped being pushed around by minority groups of faceless wowser freaks who are still missing their witch hunts and burning at the stake.
Kelly Dillon wrote:
Loved the ad, off to buy a jar in the morning
Wayne Stringer added:
Thye [sic] ad is actually quite funny. Perhaps it’s time that the silent majorities around the world stopped being pushed around by minority groups of faceless wowser freaks who are still missing their witch hunts and burning at the stake.
Calling the ad “bloody appalling,” the Catholic blogger, Matt Fradd, has called for a boycott.
Trouble is, “Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t.”
A boycott is likely to draw greater attention to the ad and increase the product’s sales. The marketers win!
Perhaps it would be better to heed Jesus’ injunction: “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer” (Mark 9:29).
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Jesus has been beaten, whipped and desecrated ever since He stood before the Jewish High Priest and the Roman Governor so very long ago. Nothing has changed in 2000 years. But one day – maybe tomorrow, maybe in two more millennia – there will be real change that we can all believe in (to re-use a phrase):
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Revelation 19:11-16
It’s all so simple.
They won’t desecrate Muslim stuff because they don’t want to be massacred.
I was going to point out that they did apologize on their Facebook page, but then I looked deeper. They intentionally stirred things up, and they continue to fuel the controversy with insincere “apologies” which actually paint Catholics as “unforgiving” and link to stories about the clergy sex abuse scandal.
http://mumbrella.com.au/aussiemite-tells-catholics-sorry-about-our-deliberately-controversial-ad-we-had-no-idea-it-would-be-offensive-159100
They’re bigots, plain and simple. They want to make money off of their bigotry. It was never about the commercial. It was a poorly produced throw-away that they used to create a stir. The real marketing plan is the controversy it stirs. They pull the ad but continue to poke at the bees’ nest, then say “…but we pulled the ad, why can’t you intolerant child molesting haters forgive us like Jesus told you to?”
MM, you are correct that only prayer can drive that sort out.
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it is really sad that this is even acceptable for tv….what is this world coming to???
Disgusting.
Hadn’t heard it across this side of the Tasman. The product isn’t marketed in NZ.
Hopefully not, but it will probably be brought over here by the ungodly liberal progressive pagans that infest this country also.
Forewarned is forearmed.
The add and the people who made it show a total insensitivity for the feelings of Catholics who believe in the Consecration of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. That being so, I won’t be buying their product. I believe secularism leads to ridicule and than finally discrimination.
More Holy Hours of Adoration!
This is the solution! Jesus. Our counter-offensive is more powerful than the ugliest blasphemer that ever crawled the Earth.
Adoration of our Lord Jesus Christ will defeat them. Please attend on a regular basis.
“This kind can be cast out in no way except by prayer and fasting”. Well, if not by fasting, at least by abstaining from the purchase of their product. Perhaps it’s time to employ the time-honored weapon, the boycott, in the culture war.
William, the marketing plan for this company relies on scandal. This is a start-up company, and they are looking for name recognition. They deliberately created an ad that would create controversy. They pulled the ad, but continue to poke at Catholics while issuing “apologies”. The general public will not dig deeply into this issue. They will see that the ad was pulled and apologies issued. That the controversy continues will be seen as evidence that Catholics are unreasonable and beating up on some poor guy who didn’t know better. The company will continue to get name recognition through any boycott. They will gain public sympathy by pointing out that the apologized and pulled the ad. No one will notice that they continued to fuel the controversy after the fact by continuing to poke at Catholics. And so any public boycott will play right into their hands. For a start-up company without name recognition, the most effective way to destroy them is to forgive them, and then proceed to ignore them no matter what.
So very very sad. In addition, is there no longer such a thing as simple good manners in the media, to have a concern for others and avoid causing them needless distress? Guess that’s a thing of the past.
Catholics must forgive and forget. No one is perfect. Our church is the authentic truth and I love it.
Blasphemy is not covered under Freedom of Speech. Only Truth has Freedom of speech. Ridiculing the Person of Jesus Chirst and His Church is not truth in advertising. A larger mind and heart will be giving the product in charity to those who may not be able to purchase it. Still, a vitamin B supplement can be purchased in pill form.
Alphatron Shinyskullus:
This may be payback for George Cardinal Pell calling atheist Richard Dawkins up on his atheism.
As a mere inquirer in the Catholic Church with intentions to convert, I think literally everyone needs to relax and find their own peace. Personally, I found the ad to be funny and stupid. I laughed.
If you are angry about this ad, “they” already won. They succeeded in making you angry/economically vengeful.
I really enjoy the American Catholic, but I think that if a reader wasn’t told how “terrible” this ad is before they actually got to see it, that reader’s reaction might be completely different.
There are far bigger fish to fry.
Ben from CA, to any devout Catholic the ad is shocking because it takes something at the center of our lives and trivializes it to sell a product. This sacrament, which we believe is Jesus’ very self offered for us, is being made fun of. It’s blasphemous, literally. Sorrow and anger are very appropriate reactions. But because the commercial is cleverly done we are not supposed to take offense? It’s as though someone insults you in the worst way and then says, “just kidding”.
CFS:
Ben from CA. holds nothing sacred. If the Holy of Holies was desecrated, Ben would OK with that.