Billboards from the dark side
by Shane on 20/08/08 at 9:26 pm
24 comments
After Rui’s fiery post on billboard pollution last week, I couldn’t resist. We spotted this ‘billboard’ in Camps Bay last night and made an extra effort to pull a handbrake turn and take a shot.
I have a feeling that God wouldn’t really dig this kind of cheesy nonsense…and comparing the Bible to Facebook!? Not cool. (Also, how do they explain the Poke function?)
Shane Dryden is the 'Maven' at Ideate. The driving-force of Yuppiechef, Shane loves to write on advertising and innovation. He spots the non-obvious stuff behind the obvious, which seems obvious, but isn’t really that obvious (obviously). View more articles by Shane.
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Rodger
Aug 21st, 2008
It’s not that bad! Don’t think “God” would mind.
Kevin
Aug 21st, 2008
They have some interesting billboards. They change regularly. Quite clever if somewhat cheesy.
Jon M Bishop
Aug 21st, 2008
Totally off topic but I need to say that this is one of the coolest blog designs I have ever seen!
Barefoot Billionaire
Aug 21st, 2008
This message is definitely trying too hard to ge trendy – and clumsy extended metaphor. But many of the earlier messages were pretty cool. Maybe they’ve changed their advertising company!
Tina
Aug 22nd, 2008
You won’t know what God thinks until you ask Him. So why don’t you ask Him?
and hopefully make all of you think about where you will spend eternity!
This billboard is targeted at the youth. Look around you, is it going well with the youth? Broken homes. Drugs. Violence. etc
They need Jesus as much as everyone else, and this billboard got YOUR attention, which is exactly what it is meant to do; so it will have got the attention of the target market as well
Cheesy by whose standards? So are a lot of other ads and billboards! Sometimes ‘cheesiness’ works as well.
To create awareness of a need, even children of God have to adjust the ‘marketing’ and ‘advertising’ of our Lord according to the trends of the day!
jon
Aug 22nd, 2008
you can just feel the fiery cauldrons of hell heating up
Tina
Aug 22nd, 2008
It’s okay Jon, I’m not getting hot under the collar. I am simply amazed at the tendency to knock anything Christian, if it does not conform to the ‘norm’…
but WHOSE norm would that be?
I am a marketer by profession and LOVE & appreciate clever, controversial ads and copy and the Lord has blessed me with a creative mind to do just that for my clients.
So…!
this ad got you going didn’t it?
hmmm?
Tina
Aug 22nd, 2008
ps; my tongue was not in my cheek when I suggested you ask God: see James 1:5 – :8
Andrew
Aug 22nd, 2008
Let’s take God out of it – the billboard is not good advertising. I think Shane would still have mocked it if it had said, “Virgin is your Facebook, Richard Branson wants to be your friend”.
Barf.
jon
Aug 22nd, 2008
i think it’s totally fair game if anyone wants to run into the sign with a bomb attached to their chest…
Fred
Aug 24th, 2008
The Bible is God’s Facebook? So, does that make Church God’s Twitter?
Erika
Aug 26th, 2008
Hey Tina spot on! I live in smoggy Gauteng, so haven’t seen their other ads. Wish some churches up here would also wake up to what would attract the youth… I’m sure God is smiling, He has a sense of humour after all
Tina
Aug 27th, 2008
Thanks Erika, at last someone else with a sense of humour. and indeed, we were created by God, in His image and He created humour and laughter, which is good for us and our health. And I have seen PLENTY of examples of God’s fun sense of humour!
there is a wonderful website called ‘Church Marketing sucks’. Have a look and giggle some more.;-D
Mel
Sep 3rd, 2008
So what does Shane the pretentious potato peeler purveyor know about advertising?
It seems more people disagree with him than agree with his pompous comments. The billboard’s message stopped him in his tracks didn’t it? (Tina – I guess God does want to talk to him. Maybe he should accept the offer?)
Unlike most over-night WunderKids and “Dot-Bomb” Brands, Christianity has a lot going for it (like 2000 years!)- and it’s still relevant today. Time to get out of the dark Shane and see the Light….or maybe you just want to stick with one of your own cheesy graters?
Fred
Sep 3rd, 2008
Shane, you’ve opened a can of worms here mate.
Tina, Mel, etc. take a pill. Somehow you’ve missed that Shane is not insulting Christianity, or mocking God or faith in any way. This article is leveled at a poor advert. The youth market (at whom the billboard is aimed) is not interested in a contrived engagement attempt. It smacks of a group of 30-something church folk trying too hard to ‘tap into a younger audience’ (You can picture the elders drawing organograms on a flip chart).
You can give them credit for trying, but that’s not what Shane is focusing on here. There are some great examples of church marketing (e.g. http://tinyurl.com/5dgmmg), and this is not one of them.
Mel
Sep 4th, 2008
Hmmm…finding it hard to swallow some of your own cheesy criticsm? Just because this is not in your favoured electronic idiom doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a poor piece of communication – But hey, perhaps you guys would like to step up to the plate on this? Maybe you guys should get out your twenty something flipcharts and suggest something that will, in your view, talk to your friends – on the billboard. How about it – they may even like what you have to say.
Tina
Sep 4th, 2008
Our God is a God of love and He is interested in the individual. The person who compiles the marketing/advertising for this Fellowship is lead by The Lord. If God lead him to create this poster and the message reached only ONE single person, then this sign is a success in God’s plans. Unlike commercial marketing that aspires to reach as many as possible – (yes, God also wants to reach as many as possible) but He also loves each one of us and does not want any of us to be ‘lost’.
You see, the mere fact that there was all this response to this poster is creating food for thought and God can and will use that to His advantage. Marketing success in God’s eyes is not the same as in the world’s eyes.He loves YOU too! ;-D
Sarah
Sep 8th, 2008
“Shane the pretentious potato peeler”? “Pompous comments”? Gee, feel Gods LOVE in these comments!
Bijaun
Sep 10th, 2008
Hey all the above!!! Here is some news… I am the youth pastor at that church. First of all, thanks for the lovely advertising you all are doing for God.We know that exposure is good, so keep it going, that counts for you too Shane. Oh, yeah, by the way, however cheesy you might think the ads are, they work, we have a around 30-40 youth at this church. They are all on facebook and think this is a cool ad. We also have a ministry at Camps Bay High School with some 70-80 students. I run a group that meets during the week, some having been models that traveled the world etc. So as much as the world out there thinks that church is some cheese factory, why not come to Camps Bay United Church and see for yourself. That would be a very brave thing to do, wouldn’t it? Surprisingly you will find that no-one there judge you or try sell you a pancake and a cup of tea. Thank you once again for the great marketing you have done for us. Chio!
Shane
Sep 10th, 2008
Bijaun, I’ll take you up on your invitation of coming to visit your church. I would however like you to show me around if possible – it’s not easy being a ’stranger’ in a new place. Can you get hold of me to arrange a Sunday? My email details are on the About page. Thanks.
Everyone else, i’ll blog/film/twitter my visit.
Fred
Sep 10th, 2008
Wow, nice one guys.
Shane, I think the key question that you need to ask Bijaun is not whether the 30-40 people at the church think it’s a cool ad. It’s whether any ‘heathen’ think it’s a cool ad…?
Bijaun
Sep 10th, 2008
You are right Fred, and I cannot answer for all the “heathens” as you say, but interesting enough, the world thinks that all people in the church are saved and holy. Many of the teenagers that come to our youth are not saved, they often come as it is something to do on a weekday, or for fun, or because they are hoping to find some hope. Why they come is not my greatest concern, it is what happens when they are there. I believe that God’s Spirit works in the hearts of these people, and after a while, they consider giving their lives to Christ. I care for them, not tell them what to do and what not, the Bible was never meant to be a Strepsil, therefore, it does not belong in anyone’s throat.
Think about this: the world thinks that the church is full of boring judgmental prejudice people. What if you had to come to church one Sunday? When you walk out the door, someone sees you and the rest of the folk leaving and in the back of their minds, they think: “judgmental boring Christians!” Is that true of you? I don’t think so. One must first come and check it out, then consider if that is still a valid viewpoint.
Tina
Sep 10th, 2008
Hey all!
here’s a thought!
if you don’t come to church because of all the hypocritical people, you better stay away from the cinema, pubs, supermarkets, doctors, beaches etc etc etc because those places also have hypocritical, boring, perjudiced people.
As I see it, those sorts of people are pretty much everywhere!
So why not just come to have a one on one with God who loves all people and doesn’t want any to perish.
Tina
Bijaun
Sep 23rd, 2008
Hey all, I want to just mention that Shane and Fred both took up my invitation to come to Camps Bay United Church last Sunday. I had a brief chat with them and think that they are amazing people! It is interesting how one forms a picture in your mind of folk based on what you read from or about them. These two guys are super nice and whatever the outcome of this billboard thing, I don’t really mind. God is glorified, and in the process, I got to meet two great people.