Cinematical

The end of the world is near. Well, at least one would think that if they heard that a big company got ticked off because one of their product was used without permission in a film. A company not wanting free advertising -- isn't that one of the signs of the apocalypse? Okay, maybe an exception would be made if it was some truly despicable person or scenario that would completely tarnish the image of the product. But it's not. It's Jesus! Oh, yes, Jesus drinks a can of Coke in the desert in a new Italian film, and Coca Cola has taken legal action against the producers.

The feature, Seven Kilometers from Jerusalem, is about a Milanese ad exec who is having a midlife crisis. He makes a pilgrimmage to the Holy Land and ends up running into Jesus. He gives him a ride in his Jeep, and then offers the son of God a Coke. While Jesus is drinking he puns: "My God, what a testimonial!" Well, it seems that Coke doesn't like that very much and have demanded that the scene be cut from the film, because it will give the company a negative image. A Coca Cola Italia spokesperson says: "We are not interested in this kind of product placement." Maybe if he offered Jesus a Coke on the cross, that could be seen in bad taste, but just a simple act of quenching thirst? The legal action has resulted in the film losing its distribution with Mediafilm, who was going to Capitalize on Easter by releasing it this Friday (Good Friday). Now, they're trying to get the soda giant's lawyers to change their minds. Heck, even the church isn't perturbed by this, as reports say that the film was well-received by the Vatican. Well, I guess wonders never cease!