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The Equinox fitness club chain will soon be bringing a controversial ad campaign to New York City that features nuns sketching a male nude model. The ads are currently on display only in Boston, but will soon be shown in other cities, including NYC. The Boston Archdiocese feels that the ads are a slam against the Church and the Catholic faith. Keira McCaffrey of New York's Catholic League expressed less outrage than disdain. "It's gratuitous. It's of course … it's a slap at nuns, but you know what? It's trite. It's not even clever. This is an old cliché ... let's make fun of nuns." Bill Donahue, the head of the Catholic League, weighed in, calling the ad "patently stupid" and "sophomoric." C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League wasn't as dismissive, calling the ad "unfair and depraved."
WCBS News asked people on the streets of New York what they thought of the ad and reactions ranged from enthusiasm at seeing a muscular naked man to people who thought the ad could be considered offensive. The main complaint of critics is that the ad uses religious imagery in a titillating fashion. One of the nuns is showing quite a bit of leg, revealing a garter, and another is pictured not taking part in the art session, but peeking through a gated door at the male model.
The two-page ad featuring the nuns and the naked guy is just one of a series of four print ads that Equinox is using. Another features a man in gold lamé shorts bent over backwards as women eat food from a plate resting on his stomach. Adweek has details on what the fitness chain is attempting to accomplish. The campaign is supposed to evoke themes of natural beauty, sexual fantasy, and eternal youth. A side benefit seems to be that it's generating quite a bit of free publicity.
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oh please, spare the croc tears. if they had it their way, offenders would be burned.
Would Equinox run ads showing women in Islamic headscarves painting a naked man? I think we all know the answer.
Peter;
Did millions of mainstream americans, over a period of several generations, grow up being disciplined and shamed by ordinary islamic women for the sin of having sexual feelings?
Satire is about teasing the powerful. The average islamic woman is under the dominion of a system just as repressive as the catholic church. Unlike nuns, they are not the self-appointed enforcers of that oppression.
Do you see the difference?
Equinox Iraq maybe...
Anyway, religion is anachronistic, so more power to you Equinox...
Boring.
virgil, well said.
Virgil hits the nail on the head.
I always love it when the Catholic Church whines about things like this. One of the wealthiest, most powerful, repressive institutions in the history of mankind complaining about a little satire.
And yes, the add itself is neither very interesting nor innovative...
Why the hell does anyone even qoute that blowhard Bill Donahue anymore???
Ah, they love to goad the Catholics eh?
Proves how edgy they are.
www.forgotten-ny.com
These Roman Catholic groups always seem to be the most offended by things, while our guess is the majority of Roman Catholics wouldn't even care about the whole thing. And I find it ironic that the Boston Archdiocese feels that the ads are a slam against their Church, since didn't they slam their own Church and its beliefs by protecting pedophiles?
Silly Papists!
Toby, why are pedophiles brought up so frequently whenever the word Catholic is mentioned?
So we're reduced to bringing up the buggery of some Catholic priests whenever Catholics, or people who defend them, speak up against affronts or perceived affronts?
Let's codify, therefore, accepted behavior: Catholics, take it and shut the !@#$ up.
www.forgotten-ny.com
The difference between religions is clear. Do something like this to catholics, people verabally complain. Draw a cartoon about 'the religion of peace' and shit starts getting blown up. Its about equal.
Virgil, you really are a moron. Oppression? Last time I checked, the priests that molested boys, were not led into public and executed. Homosexuals under Islam, all of them are executed. Oh, and the fathers who kill their own daughters in 'Honor Killings'. Please, talk about honor killings. Its great fun.
When my mother attended Catholic high school, she would secretly draw nudes. One day the nun discovered them and shamed her in front of the class while rippping every one of her drawings to shreds. So yeah, I think these are pretty awesome.
Kevin Walsh: Given the Roman Catholics covered up/mismanaged the whole pedophile problem for decades it shows a bit of systemic problems with its management.
One other thing, people just assumed that the nuns were Roman Catholic. There are other sorts of nuns, such as Anglican/Episcopalian.
Remember the show The Book of Daniel?
It was about and Episcopal priest who popped pills and had a gay son. The only people who bitched an moaned about the show weren't Episcopalians, they were from some nut job "Christian" group. The Episcopalians had no problem with it, with the Diocese of Washington D.C. turning it into a teaching moment. The only complaint I heard about it from Episcopalians was that it was too tame.
Perhaps the Roman Catholics need to get a sense of humour.
Ahh I remember that show. Its a shame what happened since it was pretty funny too. Whenever activist Christians get sand in their collective vaginas, they tend to go straight to what hurts them most: their advertisers. The networks really need to show some backbone in these types of situations.
Peter, nuns won't blow you up.
"One of the wealthiest, most powerful, repressive institutions in the history of mankind complaining about a little satire."??
Wow, Catholic bashing at it's finest...
I mean they obviously have the Nazi's beat, right, rtd2101?
Catholic Charities Is OBVIOUSLY just a front group...
Regarding the adv: It's cheap satire that's meant to draw attention.
As a Catholic, I'm indifferent; I'm not offended or support it. It's hardly cutting edge in anyway.
Even though Nuns and other Catholic institutions used in such a fashion is Old hat, I just don't care. It's not like he Nuns are making out and I have met nuns who took art classes where painting nude people occurred.
Toby, bringing up pedophiles is a bit over the top, IMO.
Interesting that some of the comments here express the sentiment: way to go, Equinox, for sticking it to the Church!
Yeah, because that's a healthy, humane attitude...
It seems that some people get stuck in their narrative of past hurt and shame at the hands of maladjusted individuals in the Church. I can understand that, but I wish people knew how to move on...
In addition to the obvious irreverence toward the Catholic Church, no one seems to have observed the basic irreverence to the human person in this kind of pornovision. See my blog post for more details:
http://www.doxaweb.com/blog/2008/02/think-again-daughters-of-saint-paul.htm
It doesn't occur to many that the Catholic Church is one of the foremost defenders of the dignity of the human person, and the goodness and beauty of our creation as male and female. A cursory glance at John Paul II's greatest legacy, the Theology of the Body, would be instructive for many.
Hate to bring such a thoughtful conversation to a halt, but that man has a beautiful a@@. Thank you and good night.
Rolltide: thanks for the kind words.
When I said that islam was just as repressive, you probably didn't understand that what I meant was that Islam is incredibly repressive. Your examples are true and moot, and don't explain why ordinary, repressed and oppressed Islamic women are an equally valid satirical target as nuns, like the ones who shamed Shovel's mom, my mom, and countless others for the sin of being interested in the opposite sex.
I love it when someone brings up honor killings. I worked for a therapist specializing in sexual assault victems, who did a lot of work with a rape crisis center. You would not beleive the number of wonderful, upstanding, church going Christian parents who literally threw their daughters out of the house, because they'd been raped. Didn't matter if it was a "tame" date rape, or a brutal one where the girl had also been beaten, she was out on the street, "ruined" all the same. Made me sick.
MISLEADING AD
I never saw nuns
At Equinose,
And yet, in shorts,
Who the hell knows?