London - A stationery advertisement that used religious imagery and proclaimed, "Jesus, he loves me", has been withdrawn after Christians condemned it as the most offensive ad of the year, it emerged yesterday.
It attracted 124 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority - more than any other advertisement so far this year, or during the whole of 1997. The advertiser, Hertfordshire paper company Rey and Company, withdrew the ad after the ASA ruled that the reference to Jesus, followed by the slogan "Feel the power of his love - or hers", was "likely to cause serious or widespread offence".
