The UK’s leading cinema chains have opened a can of worms by announcing their intention to ban an advert featuring the Lord’s Prayer before the new Star Wars film.
While I agree that the cinema should not be used as a vehicle for religious proselytising or political propaganda, where are they going to draw the line? Christmas is a religious festival. So, are they also going to ban adverts with Christmas content?
Also, given that hundreds of thousands of people gave their religion as “Jedi Knight” in the last census, perhaps they should ban the Star Wars film itself!
As it happens, Digital Cinema Media (DCM), which handles the majority of cinema advertising in the UK, told the Church of England’s director of communications months ago that it intended to veto the advert owing to its policy of not carrying ads of a religious nature. Andy Edge, commercial director for Odeon and a board member of DCM, has been trying to resolve the issue for weeks. Do or do not. There is no try, Andy.
