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December 18, 2003

Canada Ad Regulators Nix Puretracks.com
Scantily-Clad-Nun Ad as Degrading to Catholics

For Immediate Release

In response to complaints, Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) has unanimously ruled that MoonTaxi Media contravened the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards (clause 14c) by depicting a scantily clad nun in its recent national advertising campaign for Puretracks.com.

While acknowledging MoonTaxi Media’s defence of the image as “…visual imagery [used] to express the purity of our music audio, as well as the very essence of music itself – the individual creative spirit”, the ASC Council found that any depiction of a nun exposing her stomach or cleavage is as demeaning to Catholics as it is to nuns who, as servants of the Church, have committed their lives to virtue and celibacy.

We believe that this ruling, along with the Toronto Transit Commission’s ban of this ad in November, sends a clear signal that Catholics deserve the same protections afforded other identifiable groups in society. Deeming the deeply held beliefs and values of religious citizens is not acceptable in a country that values religious tolerance and civility.

Advertising Standards is the advertising industry’s self-regulatory mechanism, and as such, it does not hand out fines or order restitution for the offended parties. However, it is clear that PureTracks.com and MoonTaxi Media should immediately remove all of the offending ads displayed on billboards or otherwise across the country. We have also written them to request a formal apology to the Canadian Catholic community

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For more information contact: Michael Connell, Communications Director
telephone (416) 466-8244, fax (416) 466-0091, email: ccrl@idirect.com, www.ccrl.ca


Catholic Civil Rights League assists in creating conditions within which Catholic teachings can be better understood, cooperates with other organizations in defending civil rights in Canada, and opposes defamation and discrimination against Catholics on the basis of their beliefs. The Catholic Civil Rights League is a Canadian non-profit organization entirely supported by the generosity of its members.