The pool of television advertising contains many spots that are created by believers for their fellow believers and non-believers alike to spread awareness and core messages emanating from the world’s greatest religious traditions. Some want to introduce their faith and values to those who are unfamiliar with them, while others take advantage of annual holidays because it is appropriate and it boosts sales. And others are there to give brands a voice on controversial topics that matter to them for whatever reason. Members of different world religions approach this work differently - as several stories from different cultural backgrounds demonstrate.
Christ understands the Super Bowl
There is no doubt that if you want to get your TV spot to the general public, there is no better placement than Super Bowl advertising. Perhaps you could even say it is the Holy Grail of the marketing world. It is, therefore, no wonder that it is also in the sights of all sorts of American religious organisations for whom it is the ideal platform for spreading their ideas. In the last year, the charity Come Clear has practically proved this to viewers. But the campaign’s reception has been mixed.
The central idea of the Christian-oriented He Gets Us campaign revolves around the Christian ideal of mutual belonging and understanding. It is meant to illustrate the basic ideological cornerstones of the Christian faith as a social cement and to prove to non-believers that their believing neighbours are not so different. This is exactly what Jesus Christ wanted for humanity. According to the author of the campaign, Greg Miller, the main point is that the Christian community is viewed by many as too radical and hateful, which the series of TV spots aims to help change.
The TV spots thus depict Christ in various situations in which values such as Christian kindness and helping your neighbour can be emphasised. As the campaign is primarily aimed at irreligious audiences, it relies primarily on modernising the concept of Christ and relating his message to current issues such as racial intolerance and opposition to refugees. The authors of the campaign literally claim that Jesus’ teachings are a warm embrace, not a cold shoulder.
Video: Come Clear - He Gets Us (2024)
But the campaign wasn’t just warmly received. Many have criticised it for being political, even though its creators defend its apolitical nature. Without a doubt, it was one of the most controversial moments of this year’s Super Bowl. Many see the spots as promoting social justice ideas, even though one of Come Clear’s main donors is David Green, owner of the popular DIY chain Hobby Lobby, who certainly can’t complain about his lack of contacts in the world of political conservatives.
The fact that the He Gets Us campaign made its debut at last year’s Super Bowl also leaves a bitter aftertaste. But then a different organisation, The Servant Foundation, was behind the TV spots. However, as it was later revealed, this group has donated millions of dollars to support ultra-conservative non-profits whose main focus is fighting the LGBTQI+ community. But as Come Clear points out on its website after taking control - Jesus loves gay and trans people just like everyone else. And thanks to the Super Bowl, those messages are reaching a truly massive audience.
Ramadan with a socio-political edge
Every year, on the occasion of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, Kuwaiti telecommunications company Zain launches its message of hope and global harmony. The campaign’s themes for individual years are different - in 2017, the company tackled international terrorism, a year later it addressed the refugee crisis, and in 2019 the theme of interpersonal tolerance came to the fore. The basic premise is that religion in today’s world is often purposefully distorted and interpreted in ways that go against its original meaning. Muslim Ramadan is therefore an ideal opportunity to reflect on this unsatisfactory reality and to start correcting it with oneself.
Zain’s TV spot is not afraid of controversy. The misuse of religion for political purposes is illustrated here through interpersonal animosity as well as extreme scenarios of bombings destroying beautiful places and lives, perversely justified by religious beliefs. In the world of Islam, the launch of the annual Ramadan advert has led to many raised eyebrows. After all, it featured the singer Najwa Karam, a Lebanese Christian who has in the past been accused by many of being an outright anti-Muslim. However, even this surprising connection was deliberately made by Zain. The result is a TV spot responding to current challenges and rising to the top of the YouTube trends.
However, users on social media agreed that it was an improvement on the far more controversial campaign that Zain had put on air a year earlier. As mentioned, the 2018 campaign was about migration, and many attacked the company for exploiting the misery and suffering of Arab refugees around the world in the form of some kind of marketing opportunism. It featured an Arab child singing to world leaders (Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel, Kim Jong-un) about stopping wars in the Middle East to help Muslim war refugees.
The small protagonist of the TV spot starts by inviting US President Trump to a Ramadan iftar dinner in Jerusalem - which is referred to as the capital of Palestine in the spot - if he can find the entrance to his family’s home under the rubble of the bombing. Of course, the advert subliminally draws attention to the Trump administration’s measure to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city.
Video: Zain - Ramadan (2018)
Many devout Muslims on social media have condemned the campaign, arguing that it unnecessarily provokes precisely during the celebration of Islam’s holy days, which are meant for contemplation and harmony. Vox populi, however, agreed a year later that the company had rectified its reputation with the new campaign.
Heroes of everyday India
In 2014, the Bangkok office of international marketing agency Ogilvy & Mather brought to television screens the story of a Thai man who selflessly helps everyone in his life. In the three-minute advert, this unsung hero (hence the campaign’s name, Unsung Hero) performs one good deed after another, but his efforts are not very well received by casual bystanders. At best, they simply pay him no attention. This man, however, embodies the core values of the religious tradition of Buddhism, which sees compassion and altruism as its cornerstones.
This TV spot is produced by Thai Life, a Thai insurance company, and the narrative fits perfectly into the tradition of poignant advertisements originating in the Southeast Asian region. A good Buddhist Samaritan is first seen enrolling a homeless child in school, then watering a dying flower and befriending a stray street dog. All the while, the good deeds seem to go unrewarded. But that changes in the second half of the TV spot.
The filmmakers revisit the same stories and characters that were used in the first half. Suddenly, the viewer witnesses how the actions of the good Samaritan have transformed the lives of these individuals for the better. His perception by the rest of society changes as well - his deeds are suddenly greeted with cheers and nods of approval. In short, kindness cannot go unrewarded in the world of Buddhist ideals for long.
Video: Thai Life Insurance - Unsung Hero (2014)
In the Eastern religious tradition in particular, religiosity is primarily a personal matter, a concept that Buddhism works with extensively. It is therefore not surprising that Buddhist-inspired marketing campaigns rely heavily on imagery rooted in the concept of emotional realism. In this respect, the fact that the ads present seemingly everyday situations is important. This man could be any one of us. Thus, the authors encourage viewers to put their hand on their heart and think about the last time they helped a complete stranger and transformed his life for the better. It also goes hand in hand with the corporate identity they profess at Thai Life Insurance. The company refers to itself as a spiritual organisation, which greatly shifts the concept of marketing as we understand it in our civilisational space shaped by Descartes and the Cartesian paradigm.
In short, from a Buddhist perspective, we are all part of one big macrocosm and at the same time an infinity of sub-microcosms. Although happiness is of course also a purely personal experience, it is desirable to spread it further into the world, precisely in the form of selfless kindness. Ultimately, this is the quickest way to nirvana.
With lanterns and washing powder against the forces of evil
Just as the Kuwaiti Zain is associated with Ramadan, Indian detergent manufacturer Surf Excel is associated with the traditional Hindu festival of lights, Diwali. In most countries where Hinduism is the state or de facto most widespread religion, you can identify its course simply by seeing the ubiquitous diya lanterns on every corner, symbolising the victory of the forces of good over the forces of evil. It is, in short, a very visually rewarding celebration that lends a very specific, almost fairy-tale-like quality to Hindu, Sikh, and Jain communities during the second half of October and the first half of November.
Surf Excel supplies the marketing world with its concepts of Diwali on a regular basis. In doing so, it emphasises aspects that have their origins in the traditional folk art of rangoli, so that the viewer can really count on getting a new feast for the eyes with each new spot. Since Diwali celebrations are traditionally associated with sweets, you will find them in literally every frame of the Surf Excel spots. Take for instance the 2016 ad, which tells two stories set in India but in totally different socio-economic realities.
On the one hand, we have a family from an upper social caste that is consistently preparing for Diwali celebrations. But on the other, we follow a poor middle-aged man who does laundry for a living. The differences in their living standards are prominent, yet both stories are depictions of the reality of one state, one community, and one religious tradition. In the spot under discussion, the two worlds come together during Diwali - the son of a wealthy family goes with his friends to the poor man to bring him some sweets and rangoli decorations. During this, the boy gets covered in paint, which explains why this is a commercial for washing powder. But that is not so important in the end.
Surf Excel - Diwali (2016)
Even in the Hindu background, we get the message that we are in this world to make others happy, even in small ways - of course, there is a certain amount of sentimental pathos. Because of this, Surf Excel is sometimes criticised for doing virtually the same thing over and over again in its campaigns, just in different settings. Otherwise, however, Surf Excel is to this circle of civilisation what John Lewis is to the UK at Christmas, for example. Within the Hindu cultural circle, it is simply a marketing opportunity that should always be used appropriately once a year.
That catalogue is really tutim
All of the above examples of advertisements influenced by major religious traditions have one thing in common - they take issues of religious identity and belief very seriously, and marketers try to communicate them to portray their religious identity in the best possible light. If you want something a little different, you can rely on members of a religious tradition that has long since lost much of its global character. We are talking about Judaism and another inevitable marketing goldmine, the holiday of Pesach.
Not that Jews don’t have a stockpile of serious-toned television presentations discussing their historical fate or traditions oriented toward contemplation. On the other hand, a certain sense of fatalism and self-irony is also very much inherent. And given that Pesach is one of the more joyous festivals, celebrating freedom from Egyptian slavery, it is also an ideal opportunity to play a joke on cultural identity. That is how the Israeli branch of the global furniture chain IKEA approached it in 2016.
For its spot, the branch enlisted American actor of Jewish descent Wayne Knight who rose to fame as the grumpy postman Newman in the popular sitcom Seinfeld. Newman returns to action in the spot, this time on the streets of Givatayim near Tel Aviv but still in good shape. Of course, he spends most of the footage complaining about how modern society has no appreciation for postmen and how hard the job is. In the end, though, he does find something positive in all of this - a day when he feels as important as a florist on Valentine’s Day or a baker the day after Pesach. For him, it is the day he delivers the new annual IKEA catalogues.
The Israeli IKEA incorporated several pop-culture references into the spot. The one on Pesach is obvious - the whole idea of the baker being happiest the day after the celebration points to the fact that you can’t buy any bread anywhere in all of Israel on the day of the celebration, and so the day after is the harvest time for all the bakers. Newman also mentions in the ad that on the day the IKEA catalogue is released, his life is tutim (strawberries) - again a reference to singer Hanan Ben Ari’s hit song, which literally sings about our lives being as delicious as strawberries.
However, to his disappointment, Newman gets grapes, not strawberries, from the people in the crowd. As we know, grapes can sometimes be sweet but sometimes sour, and so this symbolism underscores Newman’s entire life story. And figuratively, the story of the history of the Jewish people.
Video: IKEA - The New IKEA Catalogue (2016)
As the above examples show, religion undoubtedly resonates very strongly in the marketing world. This may seem strange to a Czech, of course, but it is true that religious traditions are a connective tissue in many cultural circles, which ideally also drives sales. On the other hand, religious themes in strictly commercial formats are a tricky discipline, and so even masterfully executed campaigns are often met with public resistance. But this should not discourage marketers, quite the contrary. It should motivate them to more professionally identify exactly where the line of good taste is and where we are already teetering on the edge of outright offence. In religious discourse, every misstep can cause a cultural faux pas that is difficult to correct.
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