A most talked-about commercial is the Super Bowl Jesus ad using strikingly black-and-white photos of contemporary events depicting Christian values in modern life.
The advertisement drew an uproar from various political sectors and religious communities.
These depictions alternatively portray Jesus as a “canceled” influencer, a refugee, and a struggling worker.
During the Super Bowl, the commercial brought together opposite ends of the ideological spectrum – in outrage.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the left-wing Democratic congresswoman from New York City, tweeted: “Something tells me Jesus would *not* spend millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads to make fascism look benign.”
Meanwhile, Charlie Kirk, founder of the right-wing campus group Turning Point USA, said the adverts “pander to liberals.” He’s previously called the campaign “one of the worst services to Christianity in the modern era” and the people behind it “woke tricksters.”
Super Bowl Jesus Ad Blunder
The Super Bowl Jesus ad campaign is managed by the Servant Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Kansas, also known as The Signatry.
The website is modest about where their funds come from, saying that “Most of the people driving He Gets Us, including our donors, choose to remain anonymous because the story isn’t about them, and they don’t want the credit.”
However, David Green, the billionaire founder of arts and crafts chain store Hobby Lobby, confirmed that he is among the major contributors to the campaign, which had an initial budget of around $100m.
Jacobin, a socialist magazine, noted that the Servant Foundation has donated $50m to the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization that is designated as an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Who’s distressed by the ad?
The site running the Super Bowl Jesus ad says “we’re not ‘left’ or ‘right’ or a political organization of any kind.”
And while left-wing anger at the campaign online was focused on the people behind it – and its vast expense, money which some argued would have been better spent elsewhere – criticism by conservative activists was triggered by the content of the advertisement itself.
Many singled out an advert that tells the story of Jesus’ family while images of Latin American families fleeing toward the United States flash up on the screen. The commercial ends with the words: “Jesus was a refugee.”
Some interpreted this as pushing left-wing political views about immigration and diversity.
“Do you think open borders are biblical?” Mr. Kirk asked before the game.
“He Gets Us”
He Gets Us didn’t respond directly to the critics but instead highlighted the fact that the campaign was effective in drawing attention, citing two marketing firms that rated the campaign as among the most-talked-about Super Bowl ads online.
Along with all the tweets, Google data showed a big spike in searches for the Super Bowl Jesus ad campaign during the game.
“The goal is that the two commercials will not only inspire those who may be skeptical of Christianity to ask questions and learn more about Jesus but also encourage Christians to live out their faith even better and exhibit the same confounding love and forgiveness Jesus modeled,” said Jason Vanderground, He Gets Us spokesman.
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