Putting the kibosh on the bobblehead pope

The folks at Metro in Washington, D.C., recently committed a faux pas with a faux pope. How do you do that? You shoot a video using a bobblehead Pope Benedict XVI (purchased on eBay for $16.99) and post it on YouTube, where the Archdiocese of Washington sees it, registers horror and puts in a quick call to Metro's marketing department. The video was voluntarily pulled down.

Now, having set the stage, you can view the video yourself and decide whether it was funny, unfunny, sacrilegious, non-sacrilegious, instructive, non-instructive or, well, you get the picture. It's obviously meant to inform the public about the pope's visit to D.C. next Thursday and how they might take advantage of Metro to get to and from the papal mass at Nationals Stadium.

Nothing wrong with the intent. But when the bobblehead is wearing a red skullcap and red cape, neither of which the real pope wears, the folks at the Archdiocese are not amused. However, the improper dress was only part of the reason for the phone call.

According to the Washington Post article, the use of a bobblehead pope, properly or improperly dressed, was enough to set the pot boiling. "We think there's a better way to encourage people to take Metro," said Susan Gibbs, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese. "This is the Holy Father, and I think a lot of people would not be comfortable with a bobblehead ad."

As a skit on "Saturday Night Live," a bobblehead pope would probably not be offensive, but a public service announcement is different. Sounds like a double standard, but it's not. People who watch SNL know that the humor often relies on parody, satire and even ridicule; people who might want to travel to a papal mass aren't expecting the same.

Now, so you know, I thought the video was amusing and clever. I particularly liked the narration, especially the closing comment: "Avoid the unholy traffic, take Metro. The pope has his ride planned; you should too." Great idea, questionable execution.

Until next time.

Steve