Legal Sea Foods new advertising campaign urges you to come in and try their fish–but not without adding a little controversy, first.

This month, the Boston-based seafood chain released a new ad campaign for both print and television. First, they want you to think of their seafood as a “religious experience,” flipping the popular Jesus fish symbol on its  head, substituting “Jesus” for the word “Legal.” You can spot the ads cruising atop taxis around Boston.

The Jesus fish campaign is supplemented by TV spots (see below) which highlight the lengthy process of catching your own seafood in nature. Using the slogan “It takes a long time to catch a fish. Spend some time with us instead,” the four spots show a boat sinking, a grandfather dying and an annoying girlfriend getting pushed overboard to exemplify the boring task of fishing.

There’s even a hilarious  Brokeback Mountain reference in which, over the course of several hours, a fisherman inches closer to his partner and asks, “Have you seen Brokeback Mountain?” It literally made me laugh out loud.

“I’m not really trying to offend anybody,” Legal Sea Foods CEO of Roger Berkowitz tells Boston.com.

The controversial topics in this latest ad campaign, created by New York agency DeVito/Verdi, isn’t anything new for Legal Sea Foods; their insanely clever ads constantly cross the line into non-PC territory. For example, last fall, the chain enraged environmentalists when they suggested frying up creatures like salmon and trout instead of letting them swim wild and free. And in 2009, the restaurant faced some slack for their MBTA “Fresh Fish” ad series, which included phrases like, “Kiss my bass;” “If that’s your girlfriend, I’d throw her back;” and “Darn, you smell like carp.”

Then again, no one ever got anywhere by being boring. Way to turn heads, Legal.

Check out their latest TV spots below.

What do you think of Legal Sea Foods new ads? Clever or too far?