The poster created by
Radioville, which has attracted worldwide coverage. The Washington Post Blog has this article :
"With attendance dwindling, Britain's interdenominational "Churches Advertising Network" (or CAN), announced Thursday that it plans to launch a campaign featuring heady images of Jesus in an almost empty beer glass. The ads will run during the Christmas season and are aimed at luring youngsters out of
public houses and into houses of God. CAN's hip re-branding of Christ doesn't stop there, though. They've also given him a totally awesome
Myspace page to foster debate on whether Christmas should be about more than booze and parties.According to chairman Francis Goodwin, "the message is subtle but simple," and let's hope so because being a British commercial the message doesn't appear to offer any disclaimers. Who knows, despite his good intentions, Goodwin could be opening a Pandora's Box of liability. What happens when a bunch of misinterpretation-prone American kids stumble onto CAN's Myspace page and end up spending their holidays downing pint after pint in a drunken search for Foamy Jesus? If they do find God, their parents will sue for contributing to the delinquency of minors, and if they don't find God they'll sue for false advertising. It's enough to make you drink!"
But do they sell bitter in the States? Its a thought isn't it - ooer.
Sorry about the long gap in posting. I've been shamed into picking up the virtual pen again by a Mrs Ferguson of Shepherd's Bush and by her colleagues who are linking their
up-to-the minute blogs to mine.
What can I say about the last 48 hours? Since we launched this year's
Churches' Advertising Network (CAN) campaign at 12.30pm on Thursday the emails and phone calls haven't stopped. I think we expected a bit of controversy and the Times gets the prize for most antagonistic coverage of the new campaign. Ruth Gledhill's
Times blog collates much of the venom (well, tut tutting anyway) of 'Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells', though to be fair she did let me have my say.
But most people seem to get it. Reading
myspace.com/isthisjesus gladdens the heart. Young people are already becoming 'friends' with the site and posting their, generally positive views about the campaign.
I loved this one: "wow! i am sooo very happy to see something like this, even if it is in London and not here in the states! i'm not exactly a christian myself, but i have grown up in very christian surroundings. i've always been turned off by how some christians can seem so closed minded about so many things, especially when it comes to their religion. i know it's something very precious, but if the goal is to get the message out there, connect with people, and bring them to God, then you have to be willing to do what it takes. it's absolutely fantastic to see something so modern and so open, and i think that it will succeed. it's a more comfortable, friendly approach. people are going to start talking about Jesus, and most likely their curiosity will lead them closer and closer to God. for that matter, even if they don't become christians, they'll at least have the knowledge and an experience that will help them to grow in a positive way"
We wanted to get people talking, and thinking about faith and belief and its already happening two months before the campaign starts! So far not a penny spent on either posters or the
excellent radio ads but people seem to know about the campaign in most major cities of the world. I've just done an interview with a Spanish speaking television station, part of NBC, based in Miami, and before that picked up comments from Australia and USA. AFS the French newsagency were one of the first to get in touch asking for the pictures and there's an interview I did for BBC regional radio going out on their Sunday morning networks tomorrow.
What about the beer glass though? Doesn't it promote beer drinking and the expectation that we might find Jesus in the froth, a bit like a plastic car at the bottom of a box of Cornflakes? I guess that this literalist interpretation must lie at the heart of the controversy, (and I quote the Washington Post above which caricatures the criticism) but young people around the world who look at ads are a little more sophisticated - even in America. Only in a few interviews or email replies have I had to explain that we are just as sceptical as anyone about so called images of Jesus, and more worried than most about binge drinking at Christmas time. The message is subtle, but simple - where is God in all the booze and the partying which for most young people is what Christmas 2006 will be about?
I hope Christians out there will want to see these ads up in their area, and I hope even more that they'll want to buy airtime on their local commercial station in December to run the
radio ads. That's what we need now - support from local Christians to get people talking.
