Group Spends $1B on Ads for Jesus Including During the Super Bowl…

Image of JesusPhoto byPhoto Compilation

…because apparently the money isn’t needed anywhere else, and Jesus wants the added fame.

Jesus’ TV marketing campaign kicks off during this year's Super Bowl with an almost $1 billion buy-in over the next three years. The upcoming Super Bowl matchup between the Chiefs and the Eagles will be the venue for at least two ads costing upwards of $20 million.

The goal of the ads? According to Hobby Lobby co-founder David Green he and his family helped to fund the ad campaign in an effort to relate Jesus Christ to an increasingly nonreligious American youth and convert them to Christianity from whatever it is they are now. “We are wanting to say… [Jesus] gets us. He understands us. He loves who we hate,” he stated. “I think we have to let the public know and create a movement.”

No expense will be spared.

Not surprisingly, the ads and the price tag have drawn criticism from Atheists to Evangelicals. The pricey marketing blitz is money that could’ve been better spent elsewhere, some think. Many have wondered whether Jesus would approve of a billion-dollar marketing push for himself, or whether he would prefer that money be spent investing in communities, education, and, oh, I don’t know… food for the hungry?

Many Christians find the ads offensive, particularly the “Jesus Was Born To A Teen Mom” ad, which draws parallels between the immaculate conception of Jesus and a teenage girl cheating on her boyfriend, and many non-Christians find the ads performative, a cynical attempt to relate Jesus to Gen Z without taking a significant stand on any of the issues young people care about right now.

If you are a supporter of Jesus’ new PR campaign, you can be happy knowing millions spent on advertising agencies and production companies at least isn’t going to help the poor, orphans and widows or other less fortunate souls.