Advert for local brand of Amica chips was withdrawn from Italian television. It showed a nun replacing wafers with chips in a ciborium filled with hosts.
Italian authorities said the advert “takes the form of mocking the deeper meaning of the sacrament of the Eucharist, with the result that believers and others may more than reasonably feel offended” However, Italian law clearly provides that consumers “have the right not to be shaken in their deepest convictions by advertising campaigns (… serving interests of a purely economic nature”. The advert was withdrawn on Tuesday April 9 after numerous complaints made by viewers to the authorities in charge of television regulation. The advertising establishes a parallel between the crisp, whose slogan is “the daily divine” and the host, a food which represents the body of Christ for Catholics, the authority said in an explanatory note for its decision. The Italian viewers' association, Aiart, protested against this advertising spot, before the IAP, the Authority responsible for advertising in Italy, was contacted.