Dorito's, Pepsi Max, and Jesus

Stumbling through my usual followed blogs this morning, I came across an article that shocked me. Many of you might have already heard of this incident. In essence, Frito Lay held an "ad contest" of a sort, advertised during the Superbowl. Of all of the ads to be sent in, this one made it pretty far in the selection process. The ad soon found its way online--thanks to viral marketing. Although, note that it did not make the final cut, despite all of the controversy.

Here's the ad:

Yea, I thought it was pretty funny, too. But, you know who didn't? *enter Deus ex Machina* The Catholic Church. They apparently made a huge ruckus about this ad, arguing that it was mocking the Catholic Church, and that it was also degrading because the ad portrays the Church's sacred transubstantiation with Christ's blood and body as Dorito's and Pepsi. Well, Pepsi Max, which is much better than Pepsi. Anyways, of course, I'll give you one guess as to which News Network decided to dedicate a near 10 minutes to the discussion of this ad. What? Did...did you just say Fox News? Correct!



Yea, I want to punch the guy in the face, too. Props to Leslie Marshall for her patience. I think the responses of the two reporters were pretty indicative of the mode in which Congress is conducted these days. The left focuses on the issue, and the right makes jabs at the left. But, I digress.

Now, enough commentary, and I'll get to my response.

It saddens me that the Church expects to be above satirical comedy. The Church has attempted to remove itself from the scepter of society for ages; this is most obvious in the Church's influence on literary publication. Just a few examples would be: Voltaire fought the Church in order to publish Candide; Moliere fought the Church in order to publish Tartuffe; in the early 17th century, the Church required that each play and publication be reviewed by the Church before being staged or published--Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and Shakespeare were all put at odds against this force; Dante's Inferno criticized the Church, and the Church fought the work because of it. Hopefully my point is clear. Many of these works were legitimate critiques on the organization of the Church, and many were simple satire. Yet, the Church appeared to be offended by nearly each work that even mentioned their name in a critical perspective.

I guess the Church still thinks it's bigger than it is. The fact that a simple, lighthearted, funny commercial can't even escape the scorn of the Church is quite shocking to me, and also quite indicative of the paranoia of the Church. Oh, they'll do anything to assure that no one questions their authenticity and divine authority.

Original source of article: The Atheist Experience Blog: The Professional Victim Squad is Patrolling Again.

Tell me what you think about this incident. Did the Church overreact, or is their a legitimate worry?

-Jake