By RIA Novosti
Nizhny Novgorod (Russia) : A group of Orthodox Christians in northwest Russia have accused Coca-Cola of offending their religious beliefs with advertisements that use distorted images of Orthodox churches, including inverted crosses.
Coca-Cola representatives said the advertisements demonstrated their attitude to preserving cultural heritage.
The believers said the advertising posters in Nizhny Novgorod showed the crosses on the domes of various well-known churches in the city.
“Coca-Cola uses all these Orthodox symbols in a blasphemous way by placing images of Coca-Cola bottles inside the pictures,” the letter complained to local prosecutors, the governor and the archbishop.
“Some [church] images are deliberately turned upside down, including the crosses.” An inverted cross is one of the symbols of Satan.
The Orthodox believers want the posters to be removed and Coca-Cola brought to trial for “inciting religious hatred and undermining national dignity.”
Coca-Cola representatives said the company strictly complied with ethical norms and its advertisements were an appeal to safeguard cultural monuments.
A spokesman for the bishop’s office, who declined to be identified, hailed the protest and said, “It is important that such cases arouse reaction from ordinary people as well as priests “.