Burger King has managed to outrage Hindus with a burger poster featuring Lakshmi - Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity and wisdom.

The ad promoting the Texican Whopper showed up in Burger King restaurants in Spain with the heading "La Merienda Es Sagrada" which roughly translates as "the snack is sacred."

Devout Hindus practice ahimsa - non-harming or killing of living creatures. The slaughter of animals for the purpose of meat consumption is frowned upon. The recommended diet promotes sattvik foods (vegetables, fruits etc) and calls on followers to avoid meat.

Do the people Burger King hires to dream up their ads even bother to do their homework? The question of whether or not religious imagery should be used in advertising isn't so much the issue in this case, as lousy judgment. Lakshmi and beef isn't a happening concept.

Juxtaposing the Hindu goddess with a meat sandwich - the inference being that Lakshmi chows down on beef - comes off as dumb in addition to being about as blasphemous as it gets from a Hindu perspective.

Burger King moved quickly to withdraw the ad from its stores in Spain and issued an apology.

Spokeswoman Denise T. Wilson said: "We are apologizing because it wasn't our intent to offend anyone... Out of respect for the Hindu community, the limited-time advertisment has been removed from the restaurants."

This latest ad faux pas follows hot on the heels of the Burger King ad featuring a dwarf wrestler draped in the Mexican flag. Burger King also issued an apology in that instance following complaints from Mexico's ambassador to Spain.

What next... Jesus passing around Whoppers and fries at the Last Supper? Or how about Mohammad stopping by for a Bacon Double Cheeseburger? Even Burger King won't go there. Outraging the Bible Belt and Islamists is a whole other deal.