August 28, 2011
August 11, 2011
Religious Advertisements
This is a response assignment I did for one of my English courses
There were two elements of this bus-stop advertisement that immediately stood out to me. The first is the fact that content wise, it is religiously charged; and secondly, the advertisement doesn’t contain any “plug-in”, or follow up website, telephone number, or any affiliate company, organization, or sponsor. The religious element of the advertisement drew me in the most because there is typically a trend towards the modern advertising culture being ‘allergic’ to expressions of faith. Religion is normally seen as a ‘touchy’ subject, that normally only manifests itself outwardly within the group that already identifies with it. The passage on the advertisement is from The Bible, along with a small citation. Generally the Christian faith is a dominant belief system in Canada, however, the area this advertisement is in prides itself on being multi-faith/multicultural. The ad assumes an audience that follows the Christian faith, and through universalization, assumes the religion is something supported by everyone, everywhere. To me, the ad felt slightly imposing, especially through the use of the word “us”. For someone who is in the position of a ‘dominant subject’, or someone who does identify with the Christian faith, this ad would likely generate feelings of reassurance, and offer the type of certitude that is generally sought after in modernity. Along with this, it allows for the development of a sense of ‘belonging’, and reestablishes their position as the centre. For someone who may not identify with the Christian faith, reading this advertisement immediately puts them into a position of being the ‘other’. I’m not sure if I would say this ad is fully appropriate, because of the nature of what it says. There are too many implications with declaring the beliefs of Christianity, and naturalizing it this way as though it is the only way. My first reaction was “who is us?”. I find it extremely difficult to determine what the intention or purpose of this ad is. It doesn’t refer the audience to any contact information, or even any specific Christian organization. This means that whoever it is that paid for this ad was not motivated in any ulterior way, other then to get the message from this Bible passage out to the public. The advertisement becomes mystified in this way because it is portrayed as being detached from any human or worldly ties, and becomes transcendental in the sense that the message seems to be the direct word of “God”, because it is straight from the Bible. This led me to think what other message would be allowed to be advertised, as long as it was paid for, and what exactly would be the limits within which the advertising culture evolves.
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