French court bans "last supper" ad that offended catholics

When it first appered in Italy last month the city of Milan didn't take too long to ban the poster from appearing there. Now that the campaign reached France the Catholic Church there sprung into action at once and took the offending ad to court. The judge ruled that the ad was "a gratuitous and aggressive act of intrusion on people's innermost beliefs". The prosecuting lawyer agreed: "Tomorrow, Christ on the cross will be selling socks."

The offending image is a photograph based on Da Vinci's "Last Supper", inspired by the recent best selling book "Da Vinci Code" where the fresco plays a part. The defending lawyer stated that "The work is a photograph based on a painting, not on the Bible. There is nothing in it that is offensive to the Catholic religion. It is a way of showing the place of women in society today, which is a reflection of our changing values." BBC reported.

The fashion house Marithé and François Girbaud are rumored to be kicking themselves as despite all the controversy, few articles about this ad mention their brand name. Better luck next time.