OT Superbowl Ads, Awkward?

[4XPIPS]

I am not religious by any means, but I don't have an issue with the concept of religion as my closest friends and family are religious. However, was it me or did this Superbowl have more commercials in regards to religion? I can't remember in the past there were this many or if any ads based on religion. There was also an ad for Scientology as well. Anyways, not taking any digs at those who are religious but sort felt it was more than I have experienced in the past.

[RiverDog]

I am not religious by any means, but I don't have an issue with the concept of religion as my closest friends and family are religious. However, was it me or did this Superbowl have more commercials in regards to religion? I can't remember in the past there were this many or if any ads based on religion. There was also an ad for Scientology as well. Anyways, not taking any digs at those who are religious but sort felt it was more than I have experienced in the past.

I noticed that, too. I also noticed that they dipped their toes into politics and ran a very controversial ad from RFK Jr., a fringe politician to say the least, and used his famed uncle as the main feature.

[4XPIPS]

I noticed that, too. I also noticed that they dipped their toes into politics and ran a very controversial ad from RFK Jr., a fringe politician to say the least, and used his famed uncle as the main feature.

Yeah that was weird too. It was layered bad. A lot of weird faces in the household when that came on. Mind you I am in New Zealand so I had some Kiwis in my house when the game was on, and they were like "what was that mate?"

[RiverDog]

I noticed that, too. I also noticed that they dipped their toes into politics and ran a very controversial ad from RFK Jr., a fringe politician to say the least, and used his famed uncle as the main feature.

Yeah that was weird too. It was layered bad. A lot of weird faces in the household when that came on. Mind you I am in New Zealand so I had some Kiwis in my house when the game was on, and they were like "what was that mate?"

The Kennedy family, most of whom have distanced themselves from RFK Jr., went ballistic after seeing that ad, evoking an apology from RFK Jr. himself. It makes you wonder if anyone is screening these ads or if the NFL is just standing at the till and accepting everyone's greenbacks no matter who they insult.

[Aseahawkfan]

The Jesus ads? I've seen or heard those a ton. Not sure what church sponsors them, but they are so common now I don't even notice. They are usually targeted for people in need of help as the church is generally one of the few organizations trying to help people in need.

[Oly]

There were definitely more, but it didn't surprise or bother me. I'm a former evangelical-turned-atheist, but I recognize that religion plays an important role for people and society. I'd rather have those Jesus ads driving the Christian ethos of this country than the kinds of things I heard in church that drove me away.

[curmudgeon]

Didn’t watch but I wouldn’t be opposed to more and far less of the woke BS that has been shoved down our throats…..

[RiverDog]

There were definitely more, but it didn't surprise or bother me. I'm a former evangelical-turned-atheist, but I recognize that religion plays an important role for people and society. I'd rather have those Jesus ads driving the Christian ethos of this country than the kinds of things I heard in church that drove me away.

I don't think there were more commercial breaks, just that the breaks were longer. In the regular season, commercial breaks are only 30 seconds long. Some of the ones on Sunday were close to a minute.

I'm an agnostic, but I didn't mind the religious commercials, either. As ASF said, they do at least try to help the needy. Although I won't give a dime to a panhandler, I've even donated to several local churches, like the Union Gospel Mission that help the homeless.

RFK Jr.'s political ad was very strange. Jr. himself said that he didn't know that they were going to air it and issued an apology to his family members who were appalled that he'd try to draw parallels between him and his uncle. What happened to the disclaimers politicians would add, like "I'm Jane Doe, and I approved this ad."

My best friend with whom I watched the SB with hates commercials and normally records the game then watches it several hours later so he can fast forward through them, but our women both wanted to watch the commercials, which frustrated the hell out of him. I don't particularly care for commercials, but I recognize them as a necessary evil. and I like watching sporting contests live as if I do otherwise, I'm sure to hear the final score, which would ruin it for me.

[Oly]

Didn’t watch but I wouldn’t be opposed to more and far less of the woke BS that has been shoved down our throats…..

Well, you might be disappointed. It was a religious ad, but it was about love and tolerance, with the message "Jesus didn't teach hate." For some anti-woke crusaders, that is a step too far. But judge for yourself.

https://youtu.be/94BqlDQ-Ppo?si=sTkoq5FAXpXbFC8W

[4XPIPS]

There were definitely more, but it didn't surprise or bother me. I'm a former evangelical-turned-atheist, but I recognize that religion plays an important role for people and society. I'd rather have those Jesus ads driving the Christian ethos of this country than the kinds of things I heard in church that drove me away.

Same, I was raised Catholic then turned atheist. I have a mixed feelings watching religious ads. I have seen the corrupt side of it and the beautiful side of it. The recruiting side of it is something I can not get my head around. I feel if your religion is amazing you shouldn't have to recruit, well now I did it I poked the bear. However, to do it on the biggest sporting stage in the world where TV ads are at premium cost lends me to believe it is more political than religious.

With elections right around the corner, and the topic of abortion being a hot button which could swing votes, I can see religion playing a major role in political campaigning.

[c_hawkbob]

More Jesus and less woke is oxymoronic.

[4XPIPS]

Well, you might be disappointed. It was a religious ad, but it was about love and tolerance, with the message "Jesus didn't teach hate." For some anti-woke crusaders, that is a step too far. But judge for yourself.

https://youtu.be/94BqlDQ-Ppo?si=sTkoq5FAXpXbFC8W

Alright I am throwing it out there, but this ad has a lot going on. Here is the part that flummoxed me the most. Right at 31 to 32 secs of the video you see what appears to be a farmer's wife washing a young women's feet, this young women IMO looks to be a Muslim. Muslim's are Islamic, and one of my co workers is a Muslim, and I had him watch the video twice and even was laughing at this like "we don't think Jesus is divine." Also he agreed that young women looks Muslim.

To me this message was created by AI, and certainly to rub some people the wrong way. The message IMO is pretty wide open.

[RiverDog]

Well, you might be disappointed. It was a religious ad, but it was about love and tolerance, with the message "Jesus didn't teach hate." For some anti-woke crusaders, that is a step too far. But judge for yourself.

https://youtu.be/94BqlDQ-Ppo?si=sTkoq5FAXpXbFC8W

Alright I am throwing it out there, but this ad has a lot going on. Here is the part that flummoxed me the most. Right at 31 to 32 secs of the video you see what appears to be a farmer's wife washing a young women's feet, this young women IMO looks to be a Muslim. Muslim's are Islamic, and one of my co workers is a Muslim, and I had him watch the video twice and even was laughing at this like "we don't think Jesus is divine." Also he agreed that young women looks Muslim.

To me this message was created by AI, and certainly to rub some people the wrong way. The message IMO is pretty wide open.

Yeah, that one was pretty bizarre. I had no clue what the feet washing thing was supposed to represent. Cleansing the soul? Or cleansing the sole?

And I agree with you about the recruiting aspect of religion. I don't mind it so much if they take a polite "no thank you" and leave you alone, but I had one guy tell me "what are you afraid of, it won't bite." I also had another time when I was on a 5 mile jog and some guy with a white shirt and tie spots me and starts running next to me trying to give me a pamphlet. It's why I had such a disdain for Tim Tebow, because that's the type of person he reminded me of, someone that's always shoving his religion in your face.

In all of my relationships, personal, professional, casual, etc, I've always tried to adhere to the three taboos you're not supposed to talk about on a first date: Sex, religion, and politics. I think that would be good advice for the league with regard to these ads.

[Aseahawkfan]

Alright I am throwing it out there, but this ad has a lot going on. Here is the part that flummoxed me the most. Right at 31 to 32 secs of the video you see what appears to be a farmer's wife washing a young women's feet, this young women IMO looks to be a Muslim. Muslim's are Islamic, and one of my co workers is a Muslim, and I had him watch the video twice and even was laughing at this like "we don't think Jesus is divine." Also he agreed that young women looks Muslim.

To me this message was created by AI, and certainly to rub some people the wrong way. The message IMO is pretty wide open.

Are you sure that is what the Muslim told you about Jesus?

In Islam, Jesus is the prophet Isa. He is one of the five great prophets. He is the prophet that will return in the Muslim version of the end times. He was conceived by a virgin birth in Islam. He is of the line Maryam. They do not teach any of his teachings to my knowledge and do not learn extensively about Isa.

The one thing they do not believe is that he is the Son of God and that he is God on earth. But as far as not divine, he is one of the five great prophets of the 124,000 prophets believed to be blessed by Allah and a near perfect example of a Muslim. He is the prophet that will return in the end of days over Mohammed. So Jesus/Isa is a pretty important prophet in Islam.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_Islam

Maybe not true, but it could be this particular Christian group doing these ads knows the Muslims have great love for Jesus/Isa and included them in it. Or could be just be Jesus message to be kind to all. Not real sure. But Jesus is a big, important figure in Islam. Just not as central as Jesus is to the Christians since the Mohammed fulfills that role in Islam as the central prophet of Islam from which their teachings hail.

Also could be that they are using the image of a Christian woman from the Middle East, many who dress like Muslim woman. The garb we look at as Muslim in the modern day was common Christian female attire as well way back when.

[4XPIPS]

Are you sure that is what the Muslim told you about Jesus?

In Islam, Jesus is the prophet Isa. He is one of the five great prophets. He is the prophet that will return in the Muslim version of the end times. He was conceived by a virgin birth in Islam. He is of the line Maryam. They do not teach any of his teachings to my knowledge and do not learn extensively about Isa.

The one thing they do not believe is that he is the Son of God and that he is God on earth. But as far as not divine, he is one of the five great prophets of the 124,000 prophets believed to be blessed by Allah and a near perfect example of a Muslim. He is the prophet that will return in the end of days over Mohammed. So Jesus/Isa is a pretty important prophet in Islam.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_Islam

Maybe not true, but it could be this particular Christian group doing these ads knows the Muslims have great love for Jesus/Isa and included them in it. Or could be just be Jesus message to be kind to all. Not real sure. But Jesus is a big, important figure in Islam. Just not as central as Jesus is to the Christians since the Mohammed fulfills that role in Islam as the central prophet of Islam from which their teachings hail.

Also could be that they are using the image of a Christian woman from the Middle East, many who dress like Muslim woman. The garb we look at as Muslim in the modern day was common Christian female attire as well way back when.

Think I am making this up?

Your comment"
Are you sure that is what the Muslim told you about Jesus?

My co worker as you objectify as "the Muslim" is a Muslim, and I can't honestly say if he represents entire religious faction nor does claim he does. In his own words Isa you so put it is considered a prophet, but most Muslims(and I quote from his perspective) do not view Jesus as divine.

Now I have no place to speak of Islam as I am not Muslim or have much experience with Islam.

Next your reference Wikipedia of all places as a source. Here is a fact Wikipedia is not deemed a reliable source by most universities, so I recommend tread lightly.

Going back to the ad it delivers numerous amounts of perspectives. It's rare to have one religious belief in conjunction with another. Again it can viewed many ways, and honestly I should probably see it as a beautiful thing to see one religion accepting of another religion.

Going to the hegetsus.com, the creators of this ad, and going to their about us page is what they make two interesting statements

their Agenda
"Our agenda at He Gets Us is to move beyond the mess of our current cultural moment to a place where all of us are invited to rediscover the love story of Jesus – Christians, non-Christians, and everybody in between. All of us. Read more about it"

Their POV on LGBTQ+
"These are probably the most common questions we receive. And we understand why. Many of those who represent Jesus have made people in the LGBTQ+ community feel judged and excluded. And others in the Jesus community have simply ignored their stories and lived experiences.

So let us be clear in our opinion. Jesus loves gay people and Jesus loves trans people. The LGBTQ+ community, like all people, is invited to explore the story of Jesus and consider his example of unconditional love, grace, and forgiveness of others. No matter who you are, YOU are invited to explore the story of Jesus and consider what it means for your life."

Quite the stance I shall say.

[Oly]

Alright I am throwing it out there, but this ad has a lot going on. Here is the part that flummoxed me the most. Right at 31 to 32 secs of the video you see what appears to be a farmer's wife washing a young women's feet, this young women IMO looks to be a Muslim. Muslim's are Islamic, and one of my co workers is a Muslim, and I had him watch the video twice and even was laughing at this like "we don't think Jesus is divine." Also he agreed that young women looks Muslim.

To me this message was created by AI, and certainly to rub some people the wrong way. The message IMO is pretty wide open.

I don't think it's that wide open. Jesus washed his disciples' feet and explains his actions in John 13 this way: "14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."

In other words, don't think you're better than anyone.

I think asea captured it nicely:

Or could be just be Jesus message to be kind to all. Not real sure. But Jesus is a big, important figure in Islam. Just not as central as Jesus is to the Christians since the Mohammed fulfills that role in Islam as the central prophet of Islam from which their teachings hail.

I've quoted the part I think is right. I don't think the ad creators were trying to give a shout out to Muslims. The entire ad is about one group helping another. And the person doing the washing is from a group that either has power washing the feet of a person from a group that is marginalized and usually at the hands of the washing group. So the abortion picketer washing the feet of a woman at the clinic. The cowboy washing the feet of the native. The popular girl washing the feet of the alternative girl that's probably bullied by the popular kids. And the suburbanite washing the feet of the Muslim, because Islamophobia runs especially high in suburban districts. (Polling data confirm that, but of course it's a broad trend with outliers.)

And he's also totally right about Jesus in Islam. Plenty of non-Wikipedia sources say the exact same thing. We might get into a debate about what "divine" means and if prophets are divine, but as for being a revered prophet, Jesus absolutely is.

their Agenda
"Our agenda at He Gets Us is to move beyond the mess of our current cultural moment to a place where all of us are invited to rediscover the love story of Jesus – Christians, non-Christians, and everybody in between. All of us. Read more about it"

Their POV on LGBTQ+
"These are probably the most common questions we receive. And we understand why. Many of those who represent Jesus have made people in the LGBTQ+ community feel judged and excluded. And others in the Jesus community have simply ignored their stories and lived experiences.

So let us be clear in our opinion. Jesus loves gay people and Jesus loves trans people. The LGBTQ+ community, like all people, is invited to explore the story of Jesus and consider his example of unconditional love, grace, and forgiveness of others. No matter who you are, YOU are invited to explore the story of Jesus and consider what it means for your life."

Quite the stance I shall say.

If you mean "quite the brave stance to pay more attention to Jesus' words of love and acceptance rather than his messengers' words of hate and exclusivity," then I agree. It is quite the stance. And quite the move to pour millions of dollars into spreading a message of togetherness at a time when our nation is as divided as we've been since probably the civil war.

That's a message both the Right and Left need to hear. That's why, even as an atheist, I appreciated the ad.

[Aseahawkfan]

Think I am making this up?

Your comment"
Are you sure that is what the Muslim told you about Jesus?

My co worker as you objectify as "the Muslim" is a Muslim, and I can't honestly say if he represents entire religious faction nor does claim he does. In his own words Isa you so put it is considered a prophet, but most Muslims(and I quote from his perspective) do not view Jesus as divine.

Now I have no place to speak of Islam as I am not Muslim or have much experience with Islam.

Next your reference Wikipedia of all places as a source. Here is a fact Wikipedia is not deemed a reliable source by most universities, so I recommend tread lightly.

Going back to the ad it delivers numerous amounts of perspectives. It's rare to have one religious belief in conjunction with another. Again it can viewed many ways, and honestly I should probably see it as a beautiful thing to see one religion accepting of another religion.

Going to the hegetsus.com, the creators of this ad, and going to their about us page is what they make two interesting statements

their Agenda
"Our agenda at He Gets Us is to move beyond the mess of our current cultural moment to a place where all of us are invited to rediscover the love story of Jesus – Christians, non-Christians, and everybody in between. All of us. Read more about it"

Their POV on LGBTQ+
"These are probably the most common questions we receive. And we understand why. Many of those who represent Jesus have made people in the LGBTQ+ community feel judged and excluded. And others in the Jesus community have simply ignored their stories and lived experiences.

So let us be clear in our opinion. Jesus loves gay people and Jesus loves trans people. The LGBTQ+ community, like all people, is invited to explore the story of Jesus and consider his example of unconditional love, grace, and forgiveness of others. No matter who you are, YOU are invited to explore the story of Jesus and consider what it means for your life."

Quite the stance I shall say.

I don't think you are making anything up. I feel it is odd that a Muslim would state Jesus/Isa is not divine. I know they do not believe he is the son of God. That is clear. He is a very big deal in Islam. He is from a virgin birth which is in itself pretty amazing. I did not know that Islam still believed in the virgin birth, but apparently they do. I don't know how they reconcile God willing Isa/Jesus into existence by his power with a virgin birth while also claiming he is not divine. Islam also believes it is Isa who will come on the day of judgment. That is a pretty important position in a religion.

I gave you the Wikipedia entry as a decent starting point for research, but it certainly isn't the end all, be all. I would not consider it as such. I generally post Wikipedia because it gives an overview from which an interested party can start research. I usually vet the Wikipedia entry for a general overview of the information. There are a ton of places for good information. Online translated Quran and such. But most people don't want to read that many sites to acquire a summary of the information.

I learned of Isa from a Muslim co-worker who is a Shia. He gave me a great education on Islam, different factions in the Middle East, the Iraq War from the Iraqi perspective, and a bunch of quality information on Islam as he was an Upper Middle Class Iraqi Shia with a wide knowledge of Middle East history, Islam, Shia-Sunni conflict, and a variety of other subjects I found interesting.

The reality is I know so much at this point about so many topics that I mostly go to Wiki because it would be impossible for me to list every source of information I used to acquire the knowledge I have. No singular source has all that information. I spent a few years talking with an Iraqi Shia co-worker. I added to that by reading the Online English-translated Quran and a variety of Islam related sources you can find all over the internet. Even other Muslims are often shocked by my depth of knowledge as Muslims are much like Christians and don't deeply study their own religion to learn about it. They follow it as a matter of cultural teaching like most Christians celebrate Christmas because it just something they have been taught to do as part of their culture and family traditions.

I don't personally mind Christian ads. I'm not an atheist or an agnostic or part of any religion as I don't think we really have the capacity to be concerned with that aspect of life as it isn't important to our existence and is beyond our ability to control. I tend to be more aligned with an observational, evidence-based worldview which implies morality is fluid and should be actively engaged. I'm less interested in the base philosophy followed like Christianity and Islam and more concerned with what aspects of the philosophy are being pushed. In the ads I saw, they generally seemed to push the be tolerant, helpful of others, and positive aspects of Christianity.

I remember being a more liberal person when younger and believing religion was bad, but as time went on and I've seen every human philosophy from religious ones to non-religious philosophies like Communism, Socialism, and Democracy can be used for evil purpose. It became more about how a philosophy is being used rather than the base philosophy which almost always has positive and negative aspects. I very much look at these types of things from that perspective. What is this ad promoting? Seemed to be promoting the good aspects.

So no bother with those ads.

[jshawaii22]

This is how they were paid according to Newsweek: By the "Hobby Lobby" owners and family.

For 2nd straight year, Super Bowl watchers see 'He Gets Us' ads featuring Jesus partly funded by Hobby Lobby family.

Here's are links to a research of the family -- they also support 10+ anti LGBQ etc... (I wonder If Jesus "gets that" fact and would support it)
[url]https://www.salon.com/2024/02/13/hobby-lobby-funded-jesus-super-bowl-ads-cant-hide-the-hate-that-fuels-the-christian-right/[url]

https://boingboing.net/2024/02/12/super-bowl-jesus-ad-funded-by-groups-fostering-hateful-christian-nationalism.html

if each ad cost $7 million + the cost of production (probably $250k each) then they sell a lot of stuff at Hobby Lobby. Maybe over 30 million? Yikes!

[Oly]

This is how they were paid according to Newsweek: By the "Hobby Lobby" owners and family.

For 2nd straight year, Super Bowl watchers see 'He Gets Us' ads featuring Jesus partly funded by Hobby Lobby family.

Thanks for tracking that down. That's disappointing. While I still approve the message, it doesn't fit well with the rest of that family's other religious advocacy. It does make me wonder if we should take it at face value or if it's part of an agenda that ends with anti-LGBTQ hate. Or, to give them the benefit of the doubt maybe this is their effort to turn over a new leaf.

[trents]

The Jesus ads? I've seen or heard those a ton. Not sure what church sponsors them, but they are so common now I don't even notice. They are usually targeted for people in need of help as the church is generally one of the few organizations trying to help people in need.

These "He gets us" ads are sponsored by a group named, "Come Near." There is no single church or denomination behind them.

From their website: "The campaign exists to remind us of the example that Jesus set while inviting all to explore his teachings so we can all follow his example of confounding, unconditional love. Because He Gets Us. All of Us." https://hegetsus.com/en/about-us

[HawkSis]

The he gets us ads are funded and produced by big monied evangelicals disguised as accepting and loving people. They are also VERY involved in working to overturn Roe and to discriminate against LBGTQ communities, among others. They had a name change because people were seeing their hypocrisy. What it says on their website is the text… gotta read the subtext.

And BINGO, Bobby.

More Jesus and less woke is oxymoronic.

I couldn’t agree more.

[RiverDog]

The he gets us ads are funded and produced by big monied evangelicals disguised as accepting and loving people. They are also VERY involved in working to overturn Roe and to discriminate against LBGTQ communities, among others. They had a name change because people were seeing their hypocrisy. What it says on their website is the text… gotta read the subtext.

And BINGO, Bobby. More Jesus and less woke is oxymoronic. I couldn’t agree more.

Wow, a Sis siting! Glad to see you again!