Comedian Fern Brady has had an advertisement for her tour banned after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled it was offensive to Christians.
The ad featured Brady, known for Taskmaster and The Great Celebrity Bake Off, appearing to squirt milk from her breast into the mouth of a man dressed in religious clothing, in front of a stained-glass window.
Brady argued that the image was a satirical recreation of The Lactation of St. Bernard, a 17th-century painting by Alonso Cano, which depicts the Virgin Mary spraying milk into the mouth of St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
She stated the ad was meant as a “contemporary interpretation” aligned with her irreverent comedic style, not as an attempt to “mock or belittle” its original religious significance, according to reports from The Daily Mail.
The ASA stated that the ad was likely to cause "serious offence" to Christians.
“Regardless of consumers’ familiarity with the painting or Brady’s work, the ad was likely to be seen as mocking highly revered religious figures,” the ASA noted.
The ruling requires Brady to avoid causing offence on religious grounds in future advertisements.
The campaign promoted her tour, I Gave You Milk to Drink, which featured the ad's title overlaid on a stained-glass window.
Brady responded to the ban with criticism, reportedly calling the complainant “some virgin” on social media and questioning why the ad was deemed objectionable.
