So, you know, they would say it's small, but it is a billion dollars. The folks behind the campaign would say, well, you know, major brands spend a billion dollars a year in advertising. But these ads would cost - two of them would cost them about $20 million. I mean, it costs an incredible amount of money to air an ad on the Super Bowl, doesn't it? They really want to keep people focused on Jesus.ĭETROW: A lot of money behind this push, then. In part, I think they don't want to turn people off or get people focused on them. But they've tried to be pretty discreet about who's funding it. There's a group called The Signatry, which is a kind of - it's basically a foundation that collects money. But there's a whole bunch of evangelical folks who've kind of joined them. SMIETANA: One of the main funders is the Green family, which are the folks behind Hobby Lobby. You say you love us, but we don't feel that love.ĭETROW: Who's behind this - this campaign? We don't think the way you treat us is what you say you believe. And so I think there's been a disappointment, like, wait. ![]() We've had lots of fallout, you know, in the Catholic Church and more recently even among evangelicals, Southern Baptists. And we've had lots of fallouts with churches over abuse. Or they may have just seen a harshness because - over a failing. SMIETANA: So you could get people who say that they're not accepted at their church because they're gay or because they're more politically liberal, right? They may not be accepted because of their race. And so they want to try and get the focus off Christians and back to Jesus.ĭETROW: Can you just give us some examples of what that could possibly mean - bad experiences, bad views of Christians? 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're trying to really focus people on here's this Jesus, and he's great, and he's a refugee, and he understands you. SMIETANA: Well, 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. What is the goal for these ads? Who's the audience? I just want to start with this - I mean, Jesus is a pretty well-known figure in the U.S. He's a national reporter for Religion News Service, and he's been looking into this. And while it's clear who the marketing campaign is about, the ads' goals and the money behind them are a little bit harder to figure out. And the ads say things like Jesus was a refugee and Jesus was sick of hypocrisy, too. That's a tagline that's been popping up in banner ads online, on highway billboards and soon in Super Bowl commercials. You don’t believe you’re about to be fired if your boss tells you he needs to see you for a Come to Vishnu Meeting, do you? In fact, you might just think it’s a good thing.He gets us. ![]() ![]() Think about it: if you could meet anyone from history, wouldn’t someone known as the Son of God be near the top of most everyone’s list? How a get together with Jesus was chosen to convey an unsavory meeting is anyone’s guess, though we do find it interesting that other religions don’t have their own version.įor example, a Come to Vishnu Meeting just doesn’t seem to have the same negative ramifications as one with Jesus. The saying is annoying on many levels but to us, it’s mostly annoying because a meeting with Jesus (even if you’re an atheist) sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? It’s meant to convey the importance (and maybe the overdue nature) of a meeting where a supervisor is going to finally lay down the law or where a crisis is finally going to be addressed. This hackneyed, overused phrase is meant to show that the speaker is not just serious or even really serious this time but, rather, he or she is really, really, really serious! So serious, in fact, that, “If Bob doesn’t step up his performance, we’re going to have a Come to Jesus Meeting!” Available right now on Amazon.) Come to Jesus Meetingĭespite the name of this meeting, there really is nothing Christian (or even religious) about it. (Come to Jesus Meeting is an annoying business term and is just one of the 212 Most Annoying Business Phrases Managers Effuse, Confuse, and Overuse detailed in the hilarious must-have guide for every workplace: The 30,000-Pound Gorilla in the Room.
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