If you watch the Super Bowl this year it’s possible you’ll see a commercial that may make you pause and wonder, “Was that a commercial for Jesus?”
This year not only will fans get to see their favorite celebrities star in commercials for the latest vehicles, movies, and avocados from Mexico, but a group funded by the founder of Hobby Lobby is determined to “get the message across to people who are spiritually open, but skeptical.”
The goal of the “He Gets Us” campaign is to “get the focus off Christians and back to Jesus.”
All of the campaign’s ads take a modern day issue and connect it back to Jesus.
According to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey, 63 percent of Americans consider themselves Christians, which is down from 75 percent a decade ago.
And approximately 29 percent consider themselves unaffiliated.
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The “He Gets Us” campaign hopes to fix that or at least change people’s perception of Christians.
“Most of our messaging has been about what Jesus modeled, what he taught and what he experienced,” said Bill McKendry, founder and chief creative officer of Haven, the creative agency behind the campaign.
“It’s not a back to church campaign,” McKendry said. “But we do believe we are heightening the interest in Jesus, and obviously one of the outlets where people can go is a church.”
Bob Smietana, national reporter for Religion News Service, recently spoke with NPR about the campaign.
“The audience is sort of what they call spiritually open skeptics, which are people who might be OK with religion but aren’t really excited about Christians,” he said.
“And so they’re trying to really focus people on here’s this Jesus, and he’s great, and he’s a refugee, and he understands you. And I think part of the idea behind the ad is that people have had bad experiences with Christians, especially in the last few years. And so they want to try and get the focus off Christians and back to Jesus.”
But mixing religion and football? It’s not so strange.
Players have been thanking God, pointing to the sky, praying before games, and throwing Hail Mary passes for as long as most fans can remember.
Now one group is simply interested in getting the NFL’s fans a bit more interested in the beliefs of their favorite players.
The ads will direct viewers to a website where they can read more about Jesus, discover reading plans for the Bible, and connect with others.
“It’s not a back to church campaign,” McKendry said. “But we do believe we are heightening the interest in Jesus, and obviously one of the outlets where people can go is a church.”
The “He Gets Us” campaign will run two ads, totaling $20 million, during the Super Bowl.
What do you think about the idea of advertising Jesus?
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