10.22.2008

there's probably no God. christians OK with this.



so uh... the atheists are rocking British transportation getting you to think about how maybe, kinda, sorta, there might not be a God. it's a really compelling argument. "now stop worrying and enjoy your life" also appeals to nihilists, existentialists, hedonists, and skateboarders (the Enjoi website looks like an HRO knockoff, and that makes me giggle).

i think the campaign has wide appeal. apparently so much so that the Christians (namely the Methodists) are maybe, kinda, sorta okay with it. "The Methodist Church said it thanked Professor Dawkins for encouraging a "continued interest in God". Spirituality and discipleship officer Rev Jenny Ellis said: "This campaign will be a good thing if it gets people to engage with the deepest questions of life" (BBC NEWS).

while i think advertising Christianity is lame (and therefore i would have to rightfully extend the "lame" title to advertising atheism as well), i like how the Methodists chose to handle the PR of the situation. PR+! rather than casting eternal damnation on all people who so much as read the sign, like some folks might, they're like "cool. talking point." which is probably more than they're getting off of pro-christian signage. (no PR is bad PR?)

so maybe you should kinda sorta get to thinking about the deepest questions of life. if, yanno, you're maybe in Britain. i don't think it'd fly on this side of the pond.

2 comments:

Dirk Lemon said...

One of the best ad campaigns I've seen in terms of what they got for the £30k ($50k) they raised.

In addition to the simple, but catchy ads on the side of the buses, a ton of pick-up in the media (and blogs like this) made it go a lot further.

Anonymous said...

What a lame ad. It makes the ad's sponsors (the UK Humanist Society) sound as though they don't have the courage to spell out their convictions in plain language. "There is no God". Imagine a Christian group buying space for a similar banner that stated: "There probably is a God". If the creative team had presented that line to me in my agency I'd reject it. Probably.