An Italian snack company has had an ad removed after criticisms of “blasphemy.” The company, Amica Chips, aired a 30-second commercial that shows a group of nuns at a monastery preparing to partake in the Eucharist, the communion of bread and wine as demonstrated by Jesus during the last supper. Upon realizing that they are out of bread or “the host” in Catholic terminology, the mother superior substitutes Amica chips instead. One nun is pleasantly surprised by the substitution of chips for the host and the commercial ends with the mother superior sitting in the sacristy with the headline “il divino quotidiano” or “the divine every day.”

The Association of Radio and Television Listeners (AIART), an association of Catholic TV viewers, called for the commercial to be “immediately suspended” due to its irreverent handling of communion. For Catholics, communion is particularly sacred as Catholics believe the bread and wine literally become, or transubstantiate, into the body and blood of Christ. Giovanni Baggio, president of AIART, said the commercial “offends the sensitivity of millions of practising Catholics” and that it “trivialises the comparison between the potato chip and the consecrated particle.” “The commercial shows a lack of respect and creativity,” he added in a statement. “It is a sign of an inability to do marketing without resorting to symbols that have nothing to do with consumption and crunchy food,” he said.

Lorenzo Marini Group, the group behind the commercial, stated the commercial was meant to be targeted towards a younger market “with a strong British irony.” Lorenzo Marini said that commercial was meant to be “irreverent” but not offensive. In an interview with GBN, Gavin Ashenden, who previously served as Queen Elizabeth II’s chaplain before converting to Catholicism, called the attempt at humor “offensive.” “The Gospels are full of Jesus telling jokes, and we’re very much in favor of humor because humor brings down pompous, powerful people, but this isn’t humor. This is a hate crime,” he said. “This is something that’s right at the heart of what we believe as Catholics, and it’s precious to us. The mockery of it is as deeply offensive as one could imagine.”

The Institute of Advertising Self-Discipline, Italy’s advertising standards authority, upheld appeals to have the commercial pulled after receiving the complaints from AIART. Biaggio stated that he and the AIART wanted advertisers “to be more respectful of cultural and religious identities and to work for commercials that are inclusive and that appeal to all users in a way that is careful not to create discomfort and disapproval.”