Church's piercing poster 'is blasphemy'

A trendy Church of England advertising campaign designed to appeal to young people has run into controversy for its "blasphemous" references to body piercing and drug-taking.

The posters, to be displayed in bus shelters in the Midlands this winter, broach youth-orientated subjects as part of a "realistic" Anglican campaign to fill empty pews. One reads: "Body piercing? Jesus had his done 2,000 years ago." Another asks: "Life gone to pot? Made a hash of things. Things not too E-asy? Love is the drug." Another, a play on the National Canine Defence League slogan, jokes: "The Church is for life, not just for Christians."

The campaign, sanctioned by the Church of England, was defended by local church officials in Birmingham as a serious attempt to reach the 18-30 market. But traditional elements of the Church branded the posters "blasphemous."

David Hilsley, director of the National Council for Christian Standards, said: "Jesus suffered a form of torture and to then make it sound like a piercing is, quite frankly, disgusting."