One of the fallen angels

South Africa’s national Advertising Standards Authority has ordered the removal of a TV commercial depicting angels falling from heaven as offensive to Christians.

 The angelic beings are seen tumbling to Earth because they are attracted to a man wearing Axe deodorant.

“A viewer who complained to the ASA about the advert said the suggestion that angels — God’s messengers — would literally fall for a man wearing this deodorant was incompatible with his belief as a Christian,” reported the Times of South Africa daily newspaper.

“The advert for Axe deodorant depicts winged, attractive women crashing to earth in what appears to be an Italian town, and then being drawn towards and sniffing a young man who has used the deodorant. The text at the end of the ad reads: ‘Even angels will fall.'” reported the Times.

“As such, the problem is not so much that angels are used in the commercial, but rather that the angels are seen to forfeit, or perhaps forego their heavenly status for mortal desires,” ruled the ASA. “This is something that would likely offend Christians in the same manner as it offended the complainant.”

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