Trader Joe's mocking Confession?

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beafedor

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Yesterday I got an ad newspaper from Trader Joe’s. You can see it with this link:
traderjoes.com/pdf/flyers/state-flyers/md_flyer.pdf
On page 2, there is a cartoon of a woman kneeling at the Confessional saying “Forgive me father for I have sinned” and the Priest answers: “On the contrary my child. Everything you’ve eaten is **reduced **guilt. So come on, let’s see that smile”.
I’m feeling offended that they use the Sacrament of Confession to advertise their “reduced guilt” products. Any thoughts on this? Should we do anything about it?
 
I think the ad is in poor taste and I can understand being offended by it, but it doesn’t strike me as mocking per se. The ad doesn’t seem to paint Catholics or the Sacrament of Confession in a bad light. It is just using the familiar religious imagery to sell their product.

You can certainly contact them to let them know that it offended you, though. If no one tells them, they’ll assume no one was offended by it.
 
So easy it is to mock christians…even more trendy to mock the catholic faith. We are the trend to bash right now. Templar knights? this would have never happened. Someday perhaps we can see a rise of what greatness we used to be
 
I personally think its disgusting. I mean, they know what they are doing when they come up with these types of ads and that they will be offending people… :rolleyes:
 
Personally, i would never have shop at this store or stores. To me: supporting someone that is mocking a holy sacrament, is like going against the church law.

That would make me a grave sinner. But this of course, my private opinion on this matter.
 
Well I’m going to buck the trend and say - lighten up…don’t worry about it.
I personally don’t see anything particularly offensive about it…I also don’t see anything particularly effective about it as an ad.

There are many more serious issues to be offended by than this.

Pleace
James
 
JRKH said:
Well I’m going to buck the trend and say - lighten up…don’t worry about it.
I personally don’t see anything particularly offensive about it…I also don’t see anything particularly effective about it as an ad.

There are many more serious issues to be offended by than this.

Pleace
James
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Thank you for saying this, James. I was starting to feel guilty for not feeling more offended by it. :o
 
I thought the ad was kind of cute-I wasn’t offended at all. We do seem to live in a culture where people get offended very easily.
 
I think the ad is in poor taste and it probably does show a certain confidence that bashing Catholicism is acceptable. Bet they wouldn’t do the same with an Islamic ad!

On the other hand it might actually be helpful to remind people that overeating and over consumption is sinful! I think many people, even Catholics, have forgotten about gluttony.
 
momor said:
I think the ad is in poor taste and it probably does show a certain confidence that bashing Catholicism is acceptable. Bet they wouldn’t do the same with an Islamic ad!
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See this is the thing…I don’t see it as particulalry “bashing”…However, I do agree that they wouldn’t do the same with and islamic ad…But the question is why wouldn’t they?
Could be because muslims would raise heck…could also be that their market is not particularly muslim and / or the ad people (and the population in general) don’t know that much about Islamic practices…🤷
Catholicsim on the other hand has been broadly represented in American society for more than 100 years.
On the other hand it might actually be helpful to remind people that overeating and over consumption is sinful! I think many people, even Catholics, have forgotten about gluttony.
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Very True 👍

Peace
James
 
Thank you all so much for your reactions. I don’t expect people to agree with me and I respect the opinions presented. I would like to explain why this ad is offending me at 2 different levels.

First of all, as some posters have said, there is the poor taste of using the Church’s imagery and the exact same words that millions of penitents Catholics say in the Sacrament of Confession: “Forgive me Father for I have sinned”. This is my opening prayer as a penitent sinner who is humbling herself before God. No one has the right to mock that. Would it be acceptable to use and abuse elements of Islam in advertisement such as Muslims removing their shoes in the Mosque and using a carpet to pray Allah?

Secondly, let’s look at the Priest’s answer (while he is supposedly ministering a Sacrament in Persona Christi): “On the contrary my child. Everything you’ve eaten is reduced guilt. So come on, let’s see that smile.” Here he is not telling her that she was too hard on herself and that what she thought was a sin was not an actual sin (which Priest say sometimes). He is telling her that she shouldn’t feel guilty about her over eating because the **consequences **(less weight gain) are not too bad with reduced fat/reduced calories. So this cartoon is not telling us “it’s bad to indulge in too much food” but rather “go ahead and stuff your mouth with my blessing because it’s consequence free”. Is that what your Priest is telling you in Confession? “you are eating too much but it’s Ok because you gained less than 5 pounds and it was all sugar free/reduced fat therefore it doesn’t qualify as a sin”. That’s the second level of offense that I see in the ad. The misrepresentation of the definition of what a sin is and of what Confession is.
 
I think that you may be reading a bit too much into this cartoon since it never even specifies what this woman “confessed.” The ads for Trader’s Joes have always been a bit quirky. To me, it seems like they are mocking scrupulosity rather than confession. Believe it or not, I’ve seen similar (and more offensive) cartoons in church bulletins. But I can understand why someone might be offended by this, especially if they’ve had a bad experience with a priest.
 
I and my family have STOPPED shopping at Trader Joe’s ever since I found out they are a supporter of Planned Parenthood. That should tell you what their agenda really is.
 
The joke seems harmless to me. I actually think it is a good thing in that it is a recognition of the prominance catholics have in our culture.

Do you get hacked at good clean pope joke too? 😉
 
I’m of the opinion that Catholics can tell jokes on themselves (church bulletins, etc.) but I may find the same joke if told by a non-Catholic offensive. Not justifying my attitude - but I think it’s not uncommon.
 
I guess I grew up in a world that told Polish jokes without first checking my last name and wondering if they were being insensitive… I find it no big deal. 🤷
 
Kirk_O said:
I and my family have STOPPED shopping at Trader Joe’s ever since I found out they are a supporter of Planned Parenthood. That should tell you what their agenda really is.
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Are you sure??? Are they on a boycott list?
 
manualman said:
The joke seems harmless to me. I actually think it is a good thing in that it is a recognition of the prominance catholics have in our culture.

Do you get hacked at good clean pope joke too? 😉
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You can call me an old lady with a lack of humor, I won’t be offended 🙂
I’m 35 going on 36 and I can describe myself as a very disrespectful, materialistic, promiscuous, self centered French bimbo atheist. But since I had my conversion experience and moved to the US, I have become a much more cleaner person in the way I dress, speak, tell jokes, interact with others and yes I get offended easily about my new found faith. I hate it when Priests tell jokes during Holy Mass etc…

It’s quite extraordinary that I can share about that ad with people around the world instantaneously but we can’t get to know each other enough so that you understand where I’m coming from and I understand where you are coming from. So let us assume that we have different backgrounds, ages and lives. Maybe we are at a different point in our conversion process as well. I know I still have a lot to learn. Thank you and all who are answering this thread. I always enjoy the debates on Catholic Answers Forum.
 
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