Scottish comedian Fern Brady has had the smile wiped off her face by the ad watchdog over an online ad promoting her tour, which has been branded “seriously offensive” to Christians.
The paid-for ad, seen on the Sky News website in August, contained an image with the text “Fern Brady” at the top and “I gave you milk to drink” overlayed on a stained-glass window. Brady’s face was superimpossed onto a woman, holding a baby, and spraying milk directly from her partially obscured breast into the mouth of a kneeling holy figure.
Just one complainant contacted the Advertising Standards Authority and challenged whether the ad was offensive, because they believed it mocked the Christian faith.
In response to the ASA investigation, Brady explained that the image in the ad was a direct recreation of the religious painting titled “The Lactation of St Bernard”. That artwork, created in the 17th century by Spanish painter Alonso Cano, depicted the Virgin Mary nursing St Bernard of Clairvaux by spraying milk from her breast into his mouth. The painting was well known within Christian art and had been widely accepted and respected within religious contexts for centuries.
Brady explained that the ad creatively referenced that image, by using satire and humour as part of her comedic brand. The intention was not to mock or belittle the original religious significance, she argued, but to offer a contemporary interpretation that aligned with her public persona as a comedian known for her irreverent style and her religious up-bringing.
The comedian insisted the text “I gave you milk to drink” overlayed on a stained-glass window, emphasised the artistic and cultural reference rather than aiming to offend. Efforts had been made to avoid any unintentional offence, in particular by covering Fern’s breast with a beam of light, which differed from the original painting.
And, while Brady acknowledged that religious imagery was a sensitive area, and she said she had approached the ad with the knowledge that the original painting was a respected piece of Christian art.
However, she argued that humour was also subjective, and she believed while some may have found the portrayal distasteful, that did not necessarily mean it was likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
In fact, Brady believed that in the context of satire and artistic reenactment, the ad instead reflected a long tradition of artistic reinterpretation.
Sky UK said the ad followed their standard processes whereby available advertising had to clear their advertiser and category block-lists, which the ad did. It was not aware of receiving any complaints directly.
However, the ASA quoted the CAP Code, which states that ads must not contain anything that was likely to cause serious or widespread offence. Particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on certain grounds, including religion or belief.
And, while the regulator said it understood that the painting had been selected for comic effect, it considered the ad, which appeared on a general news website, was likely to be seen as depicting the Virgin Mary, a highly revered individual in the Christian tradition, breastfeeding an adult holy figure in a church setting, for the purposes of humour.
In that context, the ASA considered that the ad was likely to be seen as mocking the religious figures shown and concluded that it was likely to cause serious offence to some within the Christian faith who saw the ad on the site.
Ruling the the ad breached CAP Code on harm and offence, the watchdog slapped it with a ban and warned Fern Brady to take care to not cause offence on the grounds of religion in future ads.
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