Let’s not forget that Stimorol is a Danish, not a Taiwanese product. Do you think the Jesus commercial would be acceptable in Denmark? If it goes against what most Danish people think, then it’s a bit discomforting to think that a Danish company is releasing this sort of commercial only outside of its borders. Then again, perhaps we should be looking at the parent company, Cadbury-Schweppes, and ask if the commercial would be acceptable in Switzerland (Schweppes) or in the UK (Cadbury). I guess I think it’s a bit silly for an international company to try to advertise a product in an insensitive matter. If ultra-right conservatives in the US heard of this, they’d be boycotting in a heartbeat.
See how Taiwanese would react if there were a commerical where a golden Buddha statue came unfrozen, got a panicked, pained look on his face, and clasped his stomach before popping a Beano and sighing with relief. Or Matsu comes in on a Taiwanese fishing boat a la that annoying, stupid Lux commercial with Liv Tyler.
I’m sure the Taiwanese Christians here are probably offended by that commercial and not just the Westerners.
The “Stand by Your Man” commercial bothers me as well, but what about the one where the camera focuses on the cleavage of a woman and the men’s faces around her to advertise shoes?
If ultra-right conservatives in the US heard of this, they’d be boycotting in a heartbeat.
So let’s tell the ultra cons in the USA about this commercial.
In line with a few other earlier posters, it didn’t bother me at all, I thought it was funny. but formosa is fuming, outraged.
me, i like it. Here in taiwan, that is. It is NOT appropriate to play it in the West where it would hurt beleivers sensibilities. Here, there are not many Christian believers. it’s funny commerical. outrageous yes!
Btw, i didnt think that was Jesus in the ad. It looks more like a bearded pro wrestler guy. Jesus was a darkskinned Hebew, from what I have been told, and he didn’t chew gum. It 's a fantasy, from a weird Taipei advertising agency POV.
Let’s see how long it lasts on air. I certainly GOT my attention and now i see the GUM, how do eff do u pronouice it,? in all the front desks of our 711s here. ADVERTISING WORKS. Hehe.
completely different then monty python etc. this is exploiting the pure image of the deep beliefs of millions of people, in a demeaning and mocking fashion imo, for the purpose of shocking people into noticing their crappy product and buying it so that they can make money. do they have a right to do it? yes. do i find it repulsive? yes. is it wrong? if you can’t see it i won’t answer it for you.
this is exploiting the pure image of the deep beliefs of millions of people
NO Daltongang. it is only being shown in taiwan. made by a taipei ad agency, aired on Taiwan TV, seen only by Taiwanese (and a few handfuls of Westerners but we don’t count here, remember?)
Bad taste, yes. But only in our mouths, according to our taste buds. My taiwanese friends think it is very funny. They also think Bin Laden jokes are funny. We do not count here. In these airwaves.
On this island.
One way to look at the ad is to see as showing how cool a guy Jesus was. suffering and all that. isn;t that what the church teaches us? Pictures of him lashed to a cross, all bloody and all.? we created Jesus in this image , the West. so how can WE blame the East for being tasteless. they are just copying us, showing respect to this Jesus guy. Look at it from this vantage point and all changes.
you underestimate the number of christians here. and we did not create the image of jesus–a religious figure in a country that damn well understands what that means–muttering mindless bullshit to sell gum.
oh yes! by all means let us demand on a “true” representation of Jesus everywhere.
Let us demand that he he “swarthy” just like all the palestinians. no more blue eyed jesus. no more of that halo effect behing his head. let us portray the son of god in his human splendour as one of us.
on those crucifixes let us demand that the nails are through the wrists and not the palms. let us press for nude jesus on the cross. show us his holy penis. the bible clearly states he was done naked, why the little napkin across his dainty bits? why is it covered up? ( i know why, but won’t bother unless someone else is into knowing).
examining religion and faith under the unflinching light of reason can be exhilarating. by all means, let us do it.
but where do we stop? do we stay within the gospels? the new testament? the apochrapha? do people really want to know the historical, flesh human or do they merely want a happy fuzzy crutch to coddle up on? is there a place in our society yet for the jesus that slept with young male adherent or two? if jesus was gay, would he still be your god?
if jesus had two heads and wore lace underpants he wouldn’t be my god as i am an atheist.
personally though, i demand that you have a little respect for people and not have their treasured beliefs mutter utterly inane nonsense so that i can make a buck. i’m just a lttle funny that way.
Duh-err, bzzt!, Ireland is a (very) Catholic country, so making fun of the Pope is acceptable there. We all know the rule about ethnic/religious humour: it’s okay to mock your own, bigotry to mock others’. That’s why black comedians can make fun of black people all they want on Def Comedy Jam, but a white comedian can’t. Hey, I didn’t make the rules, but that’s just the way it is. I don’t have the freedom to openly mock traditional Chinese religious rituals like burning ghost money, not in this country, no matter how silly their superstitions may appear to me. It’s called cultural sensitivity. It’s about simple, basic politeness more than anything else - mocking people is rude.
I loved spitting image.
But I chose to watch that show every sunday night; We can’t choose what commercials to watch without boycotting tv altogether
Which means what? That it’s ok to make fun about or insult a minority?
Just asking …
[quote=“Vannyel”] Besides, I’ll bet it was an actor playing Jesus and not the real guy?
If it was the real guy, we’d all have to re-evaluate our beliefs.
[quote=“winter”]me, I like it. Here in Taiwan, that is. It is NOT appropriate to play it in the West where it would hurt beleivers sensibilities. Here, there are not many Christian believers. it’s funny commerical. outrageous yes!
[/quote]
Oh, it’s OK to hurt my sensibilities as a believer because there aren’t too many like me here, but if I were in the US where there are more, that wouldn’t be OK? Get a life!! At least learn to argue logically. I can respect anyone’s points, if they’re made using something approaching logic. 
So let’s all chip in NT$50 and make some tasteless commercial featuring Buddha, those arm-swinging gods, a lot of paper-money-burning and as many other Chinese customs as we can lampoon (we’ll get it all in there somehow, as plot isn’t important!) and see how many Forumosa T-shirts we sell as a result.
[quote=“winter”]this is exploiting the pure image of the deep beliefs of millions of people
NO Daltongang. it is only being shown in Taiwan. [/quote]
Even if there were only two Christians in Taiwan, it would still be exploiting the pure image of the deep beliefs of millions of people.
I did a bit of sniffing around, the closest I could find is this from fdk-berlin.de/forum97/f036e.html :
I couldn’t see anything on Stimorol’s website
Wonder if this is the one ?
Duh-err, bzzt!, Ireland is a (very) Catholic country, so making fun of the Pope is acceptable there. [/quote]
Wrong. 
Dave Allen was extremely unpopular with the Old Men of Ireland, and ended up doing his thing in the UK and Australia. Father Ted had to be made in England and was not seen in Ireland (except ironically by those who could pick up C4 Wales), and to my knowledge Life of Brian has never been certified for release in Irish cinemas. Nor was the Last Temptation of Christ (which is the subject of an episode of Father Ted).
Your logic does not follow. England is traditionally regarded as a Protestant country. Therefore making fun of the Pope and the RC Church in England would not be acceptable ? (Dave Allen, Father Ted etc…)
Yes, I agree, but many people would be very upset if you pissed on their country’s flag.
I don’t see anything demeaning or mocking in this commercial. It is just an actor playing Jesus carrying a cross and bemoaning the “horrors” – AIDS, etc – of life while carrying a cross (with a crown of thorns in his hair).
I honestly don’t think that the Taiwanese would be offended by this. In fact, I wonder why we have not seen such a thing yet.
i agree…taiwanese dont get upset by that sort of thing…only anything that implies a loss of face…
The objectionable (mocking?) part is this:
There is a part of the Bible in which Jesus kicks the hawkers out of the temple… Ring any bells?
It’s the whole mixture of commercialism and religion that is upsetting. Don’t use my religion to promote your bubble gum, please.