Jots & Tittles

It Almost Sells Itself

There are ads for everything from cars to long-distance calling plans, so why not religion? That seems to be the thinking behind two advertising campaigns on both sides of the Atlantic. In Britain, a poster intended to encourage people to attend church on Easter depicts Jesus as the Cuban Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara. Fifty thousand churches have been asked to buy packs of the 5-foot high posters, which are emblazoned with the slogan “Meek. Mild. As If. Discover the real Jesus. Church. April 4.” Guevara appears in his traditional red and black with a crown of thorns on his head instead of a beret. “We wanted to get away from the wimpy Nordic figure in a white nightie,” Reverend Tom Ambrose of the Churches Advertising Network told The Daily Telegraph. Not everyone is amused, however; critics say the poster trivializes God and presents a confusing message: It does not mention Easter, and as a Marxist, Guevara was opposed to religion and too militant to convey a message of peace and love.

On the other hand, the Smith Company, a Ft. Lauderdale-based ad agency, has won two industry awards for the “God Speaks” campaign it designed for an anonymous client. “You think it’s hot here!—God” reads a billboard beside a busy route in Broward County, Florida, just north of Miami’s Dade County. “Let’s get together at my house before the game—God” appears on the side of a passing bus. Inside it another sign threatens, “Keep using my name in vain, I’ll make rush hour longer—God.”