Heineken caves to religious pressure
Dutch beer maker Heineken has withdrawn all advertising from a Spanish TV broadcaster after complaints were made about a satirical religious show.
Sexta TV’s Salvados por la Iglesia (Saved by the Church) contained a scene in which the Pope was presented with the plastic guitar allegedly used by this year’s Spanish Eurovision contestant Rodolfo Chikilicuatre. The guitar, known as Luciana, is regarded as a holy object by many Spaniards.
Humourless Christian media activists Hazte Oir saw a marvelous opportunity to take offence, and organised an online petition urging all advertisers to stop doing business with Sexta TV. 17,000 signatories agreed that the show was “an ode to bad taste and very painful for millions of Spaniards”.
Heineken caved quickly. A spokesperson said:
Respect for the man when it comes to religion is our highest priority. Nobody has forced us or even foisted links with La Sexta to disconnect.
Which no doubt makes more sense in the original Dutch than it does in Googlish, but you get the drift.
Here is Rodolfo, accompanied by Luciana, performing his masterpiece. Pope Benedict the Whatever should show a bit of bloody gratitude, frankly:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=53GYKNTnilA[/youtube]
Google translation has the capacity to turn sense into nonsense. In this case, groveling dipshit nonsense was turned into bigger nonsense.
Anyway, here is a translation that expresses more accurately what was probably meant:
“We feel strongly about respect for people where it concerns religion. Nobody forced us, not even urged us, to sever ties with La Sexta.”
If you like Dutch beer, try Grolsch or Bavaria next time.
[…] Heineken has withdrawn (via) a television ad from the Spanish television station La Sexta after the station broadcast a […]
[…] has noted the censorious activities of Hazte Oir before, when they started a campaign against a TV station for making fun of the Pope. Now they are […]