LONDON: Benetton's “UNHATE” advertisment campaign is facing a legal challenge from the Catholic Church over an image of Pope Benedict XVI kissing Egypt's al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb. The Vatican “has instructed its lawyers, in Italy and abroad, to take appropriate action” to prevent the circulation of the image, including in the mass media, it said on Friday evening. The image offended “not only the dignity of the Pope and the Catholic Church, but also the sensibilities of believers.” For its part, al-Azhar – the leading Sunni Islam institution based in Cairo – did say late on Friday they found the images “absurd,” but as a result did not know whether they would issue an official response. After the Vatican complained and threatened legal action, the Benetton image was immediately withdrawn from use after the Vatican complaint and threats. In Egypt, al-Azhar officials on Thursday morning told Bikyamasr.com that they had no comment on the matter, saying “we usually do not get involved in such dealings.” But a local cleric, Sheikh Ahmed Abdallah, in Cairo, said that such use “is to create controversy. I was in advertising before finding God and I understand what they were doing with the attempt, but they should have known better than to use religious figures in such a way.” The former American University in Cairo (AUC) graduate and marketing executive turned cleric told Bikyamasr.com that “for a clothing company to create this kind of tension will only do good things for their business. The Vatican should have just let it go and not worried themselves with such ordeal.” But the Vatican said the campaign was part hatred and was illegally using the Pope's likeness without permission. This prompted the lawsuit, the church said. Benetton fought back in an attempt to argue the campaign was actually attempting to fight against hatred and intolerance. “We reiterate that the meaning of this campaign is exclusively to combat the culture of hatred in all its forms,” a Benetton Group spokesman said in an official statement. “We are therefore sorry that the use of the image of the pope and the imam has so offended the sentiments of the faithful. In corroboration of our intentions, we have decided, with immediate effect, to withdraw this image from every publication.” The Italian company's “UNHATE” campaign is intended to promote a new foundation dedicated to “the creation of a new culture of tolerance … building on Benetton's underpinning values.” ** Bikyamasr.com staff contributed to this report in Cairo. BM
