SYDNEY (Reuters)
Australian Catholic clergy are
threatening to boycott a
popular beer brand over an
advertisement showing a young man conning a priest into giving
him the names of potential sexual partners.
Clergy said Saturday they were warning brewers Lion Nathan that
churchgoers would stop buying the Tooheys New brand because the
television commercial suggested priests inadvertently violated
the confidentiality of the confession booth.
The ad shows a young man confessing to indiscretions with a
"beautiful young woman," leading the curious priest to suggest
the names of three women who had apparently confessed to
extramarital sex.
The young man then bursts in a pub and enjoys a round of Tooheys
New with his mates as they seek out the three women.
Lion Nathan's corporate affairs director, Gabriel McDowell, told
Reuters advertising standards officials had rejected the
complaints and Tooheys New sales had risen since the
advertisement started running three months ago.
But a spokesman for Sydney's Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal
Edward
Clancy, said the brewers would soon find churchgoers were
choosing alternative brands.
