Johannesburg, South Africa, Mar 15, 2012 / 23:11 pm
The Church in South Africa is encouraging Catholics to boycott Red Bull energy drinks and donate the money saved to charitable organizations after the company aired a “Jesus Walks on Water” ad campaign.
“In the spirit of observing Lent,” Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, spokesman for the Southern African Bishops' Conference, suggested that Catholic consumers and business owners, “fast from displaying and consuming Red Bull until Easter” and donate the money that would have been spent on the energy drinks to local charities.
Red Bull quickly halted the South Africa television ad on March 14, just one day after it began to run. The company received numerous complaints from Christians, Muslims and people of other faiths.
The South African Bishops' Conference said they would like to see the ad totally pulled from the air, rather than just a pause in the ad campaign.