Will the real Son of God please stand up? Who is more Christ-like, Dwayne Wade or Wayne Rooney? It’ll probably be hard to tell before the conclusion of the NBA Finals and the World Cup. The top image, which doesn’t appear to be an ad, comes from Dave Barry’s blog. The Nike ad is from The Hidden Persuader. UPDATE: The Rooney ad, from Wieden + Kennedy in London, is being met with some resistance in England. One MP says: “This is such a horrible image and is so horribly warlike that it can only be described as Nike being crass, offensive and insensitive as they try to hitch poor old Rooney to their commercial bandwagon. Wayne’s a good Catholic boy, and I think the obvious crucifixion nuance is one part of it, but the aggressive nature of the pose is something we could do without.” —Posted by Tim Nudd

June 20, 2006 | Permalink

Comments

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I don't think the Rooney one's supposed to be Christ-like. It's the England flag, and a typical post-goal football pose.

Posted by: yikes | Jun 20, 2006 1:24:01 PM

This is blasphemous. The heads of the infidels responsible for this apostasy must roll. Let's storm their embassies, kill their children and rape their donkeys...

Oh wait, wrong Prophet.

My bad.

Posted by: rich siegel | Jun 20, 2006 1:51:59 PM

Duh! It's Rooney. Everyone knows that Jesus was a Jewish guy with inexplicably western European features.

Posted by: ad_scribe | Jun 20, 2006 4:06:09 PM

yeahhhhhhhhhhh
im gonna have to say that Rooney is representing the flag of England.

Not Gesus - as the kids on the street call him these days.

Posted by: wow - duh | Jun 20, 2006 7:05:44 PM

The refereeing in the NBA finals was bullshit.

Posted by: MFFL | Jun 21, 2006 2:14:48 AM

Yeah, please. Rooney is certainly representing the English flag. Can you update this post?

Posted by: jared | Jun 21, 2006 10:30:01 AM

The English flag? That image conjures not one whit of the Union Jack, if that's what you are referring to. It looks like a crucifixion, you heathens. Has anyone on here ever been inside a church? GEE-sus.

Posted by: Fidelis | Jun 21, 2006 10:36:48 AM

Even if he is representing the English Flag, and I agree he is, that is quite a slip by the agency to let that one go through. Tilt the flag so it doesn't look like a cross-- easy fix.

Posted by: lgibson | Jun 21, 2006 10:45:44 AM

Guys: The English flag IS a cross and its origin is purposely Christian. Rooney's image has a double-entendre because of it. But Nike's audience will just see him celebrating a goal painted as the English flag.

Posted by: By the way | Jun 21, 2006 11:28:49 AM

Saying that Nike's audience will just see a guy celebrating a goal painted as teh English flag severely under-estimates the intelligence of the audience. The point here is not that it is blasphemous, its that the design hinders the strategy and effectiveness of the ad.

Posted by: lgibson | Jun 21, 2006 11:38:42 AM

Fidelis, the Union Jack is the flag for the United Kingdom, which is a combination of the flags of Wales, Scotland, and wait for it... England. England's flag is white with a red cross. Also, in Europe, not everyone sees everything as religious-based and blasphemous.

Posted by: yikes | Jun 21, 2006 12:41:09 PM

"The English flag? That image conjures not one whit of the Union Jack, if that's what you are referring to. It looks like a crucifixion, you heathens. Has anyone on here ever been inside a church? GEE-sus."

you're a fucking moron. open a book besides the bible.

Posted by: dusty.bottoms | Jun 21, 2006 2:05:33 PM

Wow, i learned something today. England's flag is separate and distinct from union jack. Did not know that. Still, the ad is well done then for its double-entendre message as pointed out by By the Way.

And i never called the ad blasphemous becuase I don't think it is. But only a true moron would deny the crucifixion imagery in it, which is anything but subtle. Now, back to my book on flags...

Posted by: Fidelis | Jun 21, 2006 2:28:43 PM

apparently dusty is incapable of distinguishing sarcasm. I'm with fidelis on this one.

Posted by: sideliner | Jun 21, 2006 3:49:07 PM

hahahahaha

please point out where the stupidity ended and the sarcasm kicked in. and then tell fidelis.

Posted by: dusty.bottoms | Jun 21, 2006 5:11:49 PM

Gee, let’s pick a subject that is taboo and tweak it to make an ad. Wow. Aren’t we “creative.” Pathetic. Nike is stupid for approving this juvenile ad. I’m so offended by the blatantly easy concept that I’d spit on Nike if I still owned a pair but since Nikes are made to last 6-months at best, I used mine up years ago and now wear Addidas.

(Sigh) How bad can advertising get before it sucks?

Posted by: me | Jun 21, 2006 5:21:07 PM

hey, folks will look at an eggo waffle and see the virgin mary. no reason to be surprised they might see deities or blasphemy in the nike ad too. hell, they'll probably also draw parallels between "just do it" and "do unto others."

Posted by: HighJive | Jun 22, 2006 3:58:08 PM

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