“Immaculate contraception” birth pill ad withdrawn

	Tweet

A Christmas campaign for an “immaculate contraception” morning-after birth control pill has been scrapped by a drug company in Britain after causing offence on religious grounds.

The poster, which appeared on London Underground trains, asked: “Immaculate contraception? If only.”

“It might be Christmas time,” it read, “but condoms still split and pills still get forgotten. So if your contraception lets you down, ask your pharmacist for Levonelle One Step.”

Schering Health Care, a subsidiary of Schering AG of Germany, said in a statement it had decided to withdraw the “inappropriate” advert after receiving several letters.

“We take this step as a responsible manufacturer in recognition of the religious concerns expressed to us,” it said. “This advertisement was intended as a play on words to indicate that there is no such thing as immaculate contraception.”

For Christians the phrase is clearly based on the term ‘immaculate conception’, the belief that Jesus’s mother Mary was born without ‘original sin’.

The poster also prompted 109 complaints to Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which has launched a formal investigation into the advert.

An ASA spokeswoman said most of the complaints, including one from the National Association of Catholic Families, related to religion.

Others found the advert irresponsible because they felt it encouraged casual sex and trivialised unwanted pregnancies. 

RELATED STORIES:
Sex researchers shed light on unpopular sex acts   Teens think oral sex is not sex   Transsexual’s ‘Change’ Recognized   Thais plan first live sex change operation   Sex enhancement pills fall short: consumer group   Don’t Let Your Valentine’s Day be a Snore   Study links restless leg syndrome with erectile dysfunction in older men   Long-term risks of Viagra® use unclear   Guide to Safer Sex [part 1]   Texas sex-ed textbooks face contraceptives battle   Unsafe sex burdens health in U.S.   U.S. bill would outlaw taxpayer coverage of Viagra

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]