Every year corporations willingly shell out millions of dollars for 30 second ads to put their products in front of the huge audiences for the Super Bowl -- that's the NFL championship for those of you who couldn't care less about pro sports. Canadians don't see most of them because we are in a different market so we'll see the same ol' boring ads, over and over again.
There are few exceptions to the corporate ad buyers but one of them is a Christian organization now called Come Near that has created Super Bowl plugs for Jesus for four years, including the one for his evening in the "He Gets Us" campaign. According to the creative director: “The spot is really showing the thing we all feel, which is the absurdity of where things are at,” Armour said. “We’re chasing our tails, we’re going fast, but going nowhere.”
“What if the only expectation was love,” the ad asks. “Jesus doesn’t expect us to earn it.”
There have been different themes each year and all of them have offered worthwhile messages except that $8 millon for half a minute doesn't seem very Jesusy to me. Is Jesus a product to be sold? Is there an uncomfortable irony to that slogan "there's more to life than more"? And how can millions of Americans go without healthcare yet there's a Christian organization that can come up with money for this?
The "He Gets Us" ad will be in the queue with another featuring ex-pat Canadian William Shatner who is shilling for Raisin Bran. There will be lots of double entendres in this one including a "will shat" play on his name. Nuck, nuck. What a curious time we live in.
1 comment:
I have a new way of cheering in NFL games that don't involve the Steelers(and unbelievably, the Steelers are not in the Super Bowl!). If a team from a blue state is playing a team from a red state, you can guess which team I'll cheer for. Today's teams are both from blue states(take that, Trump), however the owner of the Patriots is purportedly a Trump supporter. So go Seahawks!
Of course, my analysis is flawed, since Pennsylvania is a red state. At any rate, I'm glad the orange buffoon will not be at the game. It'll be nice to focus on the game and not have the cameras zoom in on him every 5 minutes.
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