SONY CRUCIFIED FOR JESUS AD CAMPAIGN

It happened in Rome, where the campaign for Sony's PlayStation included a dude with a crown of thorns -- and the slogan "Ten years of passion."

Reuters says:

Some Catholics were outraged by the adverts, which ran in newspapers and magazines to celebrate the product's tenth anniversary.

"This time they've gone too far," said Antonio Sciortino, editor of Famiglia Cristiana (Christian Family), a mass-circulation Catholic weekly.

"If this had concerned Islam there would have been a really strong reaction," Sciortino was quoted as saying in the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Speaking of Islam and ads, Boeing Co. and Bell Helicopter have apologized for greenlighting a print piece with a drawing that showed the V-22 Osprey aircraft deploying special forces onto a mosque.

Sony apologized for its Jesus ad, too. In a statement the company's Entertainment Italia division said the "spirit of the message was misunderstood." The company then hired Mel Gibson to lens a commercial with Jesus being beaten to a bloody pulp for playing too much PlayStation.