British pastry chain Greggs, whose sausage rolls I can verify are a religious experience, has apologized after replacing the Lord our Christ with an enormous sausage roll in a Christmas ad campaign image.
The stunt was apparently meant to be taken in a light-hearted way but numerous people pointed out that the fresh take on the 2,000-year old scene could cause offence because Jesus was Jewish and eating pork is forbidden in the Jewish faith.
The offending photograph was one of a number of publicity photos for the calendar, including a Santa with flakes of pastry in his beard, a Greggs shop in a snow globe and a woman puckering up to kiss what appears to be a chicken slice under the mistletoe.
Greggs said in a statement: “We’re really sorry to have caused any offence, this was never our intention.”