Burger bar slammed for posting controversial image of Jesus

A Sydney pub has come under fire after posting a controversial Easter advertisement, which featured Jesus holding a cigarette and a beer, on social media.

Mary’s Newtown posted the eyebrow-raising ad on Facebook and Instagram to advertise their Easter weekend trading hours.

“Jesus got hammered for his sin, you can too. Open from 12 Good Friday and ALL long weekend,” the since-deleted post read, news.com.au reported.

The post sparked a negative response with many people taking to Facebook to slam the burger joint for the disrespectful ad. The pub later deleted the picture from their page.

“Any place that needs to mock someones faith to sell their business is a disgrace. Absolutely disgusting. Shame on you,” one commentator wrote.

Another added: “Extremely unprofessional means of advertisement. Highly discriminatory and disrespectful. As a business, there should be a high level of respect towards their customers – no matter their beliefs and values and therefore, should keep personal beliefs separate from business. Will definitely be boycotting this entire place for their poor representation and reputation as well as their disgusting food and service.”

Mary Newtown’s has since taken to social media to issue an apology, stating the picture was never meant to offend anyone.

“Our last post was not designed to offend – it’s an old joke and was designed to make people laugh and move on with their day,” the post read. “A large number of people who have taken offence have simultaneously decided to use homophobic slurs and threats of sexual and physical violence, which is ironic coming from Christians and rather alarming to us and our staff. Following this, we took the posts down for the safety of our staff.”

It comes after sleepwear store Peter Alexander came under fire for charging Aussies extra for its plus size items earlier this year. The designer pyjama brand has been found to be pushing prices up for the larger sizes of clothing with some forced to fork out $10 extra or more for a nightie or top.

While it’s all well and good if you fit into a size XS to XL, people opting for bigger sizes are in a state of anger knowing they must pay more.

It’s online store lists a range of items showcasing the price difference with the Choose Sleep Tee coming in at $69.95 for a size XS or above, and $79.95 for plus sizes.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you find the post offensive?