London, Jul 1 (ANI): An advert for Antonio Federici Gelato Italiano ice cream has been banned after it showed a priest and nun looking as though they were about to kiss.

The ad was banned after the Advertising Standards Authority received 10 complaints about it, and regulators said that the image was thought “likely to cause serious offence”.

The picture, which appeared in Delicious magazine and Sainsbury’s Magazine, showed the priest wearing rosary beads and holding a pot of ice cream above the slogan “Kiss temptation”.

The authority said that the advert breached decency rules.

“We considered that the portrayal of the priest and nun in a sexualised manner and the implication that they were considering whether or not to give in to temptation, was likely to cause serious offence to some readers,” Times Online quoted the ruling as stating.

Antonio Federici said that it was a “tongue-in-cheek portrayal celebrating forbidden Italian temptations”.

He added that it was significant that the image did not show the nun and priest touching, or kissing and the reader was therefore left pondering their dilemma - would they or would they not succumb to temptation and kiss?

They considered the complaints were therefore concerned with the implication of the ad, not the ad itself, and pointed out that each individual’s reaction to it would be shaped by their own values and experiences. (ANI)