While in New York City last weekend, it was hard not to notice the strategic marketing campaign by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, across the city. The ads coincide with the intense publicity the church is receiving because of The Book of Mormon, currently the number one show on Broadway and winner of 9 Tony Awards (no, sadly, I did not have tickets to the show). In addition to the show, Governor Mitt Romney, a Mormon, is leading the pack for the GOP nomination, adding to the national buzz.
The Huffington Post reported on the campaign, which directs people to an engaging website that offers videos telling the stories of people pictured in the ads:
The "I'm a Mormon" campaign, which showcases video and print portraits of young, diverse and energetic Mormons -- and steers clear of images of missionaries in white shirts and black pants or talk of theology -- includes hundreds of ads on top of taxis, in subway stations and at bus shelters around the city. The campaign tested in nine markets last summer and it is going to expand to two dozen this fall.
"There's a national conversation going on about Mormonism and we want to be a part of it," said Michael Purdy, a spokesman for the 14-million member church, which is growing at a rate of about 333,000 members per year, according its own statistics.
The ads are captivating, energetic, and refreshing; the church is deftly taking advantage of some national press, even when it is less than flattering. And without discounting the creativeness of the church, the ads are also pretty simple, lending to their effectiveness. They show a different side of an oft-misunderstood religion. They seek to tell stories of ordinary people. They evangelize without being in-your-face about dogma and doctrine.
What could the Catholic Church learn from this campaign? Imagine the possibilities for a campaign of this type. Catholics Come Home is one example of a professional campaign, but it's only scratching the surface of the powerful stories the church could tell. Some Catholics will turn up their noses and claim that a faith as ancient as ours need not stoop to the technological trends of the day, but they are wrong. Using savvy media and marketing campaigns to offer inspiration, hope, and perhaps even gentle evangelization is a smart move. The LDS are preaching in a new way, and doing it extremely well. How will the Catholic Church take part? What are some ideas? What are the stories we should tell? Who are the audiences? Who should pay and manage such a campaign?
Image: A photo of the ad in Times Square I took with my iPhone. The shot is taken from Duffy Square, named for Catholic chaplain Fr. Francis P. Duffy.
Michael J. O'Loughlin
Why can't we do this? More to the point, why can't we see ourselves in this way?
http://Thegubbioproject.org/video
Totally agree, I think this is a big part of the answer.
No, sadly it's Cookie Cutter Catholics the Chruch prizes. Cut from one mold, unvarying, very predictable.
I continue to hold my faith as a great anchor in my life, and I hold to the hope that we might invite people ''home'' to a church that listens, engages and does not judge. Dialogue, an end to the Communion Wars (the elections are coming, can this be far behind?), a will to understand, to welcome... and to listen... here's hoping.
The message of the ads IS simple: Mormons are your neighbors, with families like yours and many similar experiences in the same places where you live. While this message is simple, it specifically counterbalances a false message, the accusation that Mormons are not really good, ordinary people, but are dangerous and trying to take away your religious freedom. Those accusations are pure lies, put out by people who earn their livings as professional gossip mongers, and lying to the people who think those liars are giving them some kind of secret knowledge about the Mormons. It is a social paranoia that should be familiar to anyone who knows the history of anti-Catholic rhetoric and government action in America over the past two hundred years.
Let me add one observation: When Catholic clergy and laity chime in with the accusation that "Mormons aren't Christians," they are empowering the same people who will turn around the next day and announce "Catholics aren't Christian, either."
Every Sunday, Mormons gather to sing a hymn commemorating the Savior's sacrifice on Gethsemane. Then a priest prays to God, asking him to sanctify the broken bread so that the congregation that eats it will remember the body of Christ, and obey Christ's commandments, and have the Holy Ghost with them. Every member of the congregation then eats a small portion of the bread. All of the sermons given (by members of the congregation) are given "in the name of Jesus Christ", as are all the prayers that are offered.
In the Mormon Sunday School, adults and children are taught out of the New Testament. The Book of Mormon is also used, because it constantly testifies of the reality of Christ, that he is not only our Savior but also the Creator of the earth in his pre-mortal role as Jehovah, which he continues to hold. In the face of the denials by many modern "Christians" of the reality of the Resurrection, the Book of Mormon boldly affirms that Christ is the God who gave the Law to Moses on Sinai, and fulfilled the Law and superseded it with his own teachings and sacrifice. Mormons worship Christ, and are "latter-day saints" because they live in the full expectation that the next major event in the earth's history will be, at a time of God's choosing, Christ's return to the earth to reign over it as its king.
Christ is a real person possessing objective reality. He is not a figment of anyone's imagination. Humans cannot alter Christ through any misunderstandings about his nature. Those who worship Christ do so based on their understandings of who he is, but he is only one Christ, no matter how faulty our understanding of him may be. You may dispute my beliefs about Christ, but if you claim that I am not worshipping the Son of God, you are lying or accusing me of lying.
Thus the simple message of the ads: Mormons are real people, not cultists, and we worship Jesus Christ, with as much sincerity as any Christian of any other denomination. It is not much of a claim, but it is one that some people want to prevent us making.