'He Gets Us' Ad Campaign For Jesus Shells Out For Super Bowl Time With The Help Of Anonymous Donors
Another Super Bowl is coming up, where the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Philadelphia Eagles. The event is one of few that seemingly everyone watches, even those not invested in football. For those who refer to it as "sportsball" and will loudly ask when someone has hit a home run, the Super Bowl is still fun for all the snacks and the copious amount of commercials and movie trailers that come out during the game. And this year should have some good ones, including one where the cast of "Breaking Bad" reunites to sell chips.
It's not unusual for companies to tease their big new ads well before the big game, and there's one commercial coming out this year that's raising some eyebrows. You may have already seen a series of ads called "He Gets Us," which promote the teachings of Jesus Christ. They've actually been playing during a lot of NFL games in the lead-up to the Super Bowl, so many football fans should be used to them by now.
Still, it can be a bit disconcerting initially. After all, what is this organization selling? What does it want you to do? The ads will inevitably lead to a lot of conversations while people dig into buffalo wings, so here's what we know about He Gets Us, which is spending quite a bundle to get its ads in front of eyeballs.
He Gets Us says it's not affiliated with a political campaign
It's not unusual for religious entities to air ads during the Super Bowl. The Church of Scientology has done it in the past (via Newsweek). But while those commercials had clear agendas (namely, wanting people to sign up for Scientology), He Gets Us is a bit more opaque. If you go to the organization's website, it says, "We're not 'left' or 'right' or a political organization of any kind. We're also not affiliated with any particular church or denomination. We simply want everyone to understand the authentic Jesus as he's depicted in the Bible."
Of course, it always helps to follow the money in instances like this. The website goes on to say it's an initiative of the Servant Foundation, a nonprofit based out of Missouri with predominantly anonymous donors. However, Hobby Lobby founder David Green told Glenn Beck his family had donated to the commercials. Green is a noteworthy conservative, and his business has made headlines over the years for various controversies, including fighting for the right to deny contraceptive care to Hobby Lobby's employees. This would seem to suggest there's a conservative agenda to the ads despite what the initiative says otherwise.
And don't expect the commercials to stop after the Super Bowl, either. Organizers say the plan is to spend $1 billion over the next three years on similar ads (via Religion News Service). You aren't alone if you believe the money could be spent elsewhere on truly more Christian causes. Jordan Carson, spokesperson for He Gets Us, told Deseret about those concerns, "If you look at the Bible, during Jesus' life, people took different steps and avenues to speak out about big issues. That's exactly what this campaign is doing. We're utilizing these resources to be able to reach more people." Still, Jesus was kind of all about feeding the hungry, and you could certainly feed a lot of hungry people with $1 billion.