Readers will recall that when the Catholic League protested the use of a crown of thorns in an ad for the movie, The Last Supper, the crown was removed by Columbia Tristar Home Video, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment Company. But much to our dismay, when the movie showed up in video stores, the crown of thorns was again back in place, this time appearing on the jacket of the video (it surrounded a tomato with flames emanating from the center, making comparisons with the Sacred Heart evident).
Again, the league protested, and again we won. Here is a selection from the letter that was sent to us by E. Fritz Friedman, vice president, Worldwide Publicity, for Columbia Tristar Home Video:
“Please be assured that the offending artwork was used in error and was placed on only a limited number of ads. Upon receipt of your letter we took immediate action to correct the matter. All art has been modified and the crown of thorns has been removed from the tomato. The corrected art is now being used and, tot the extent it is within our control, will continue to be used for all future ads and promotions of the film.”
The Catholic League has no reason to doubt the sincerity of Mr. Friedman and trusts that this will finally be the last time we deal with this issue.
