God & Football
Jesus, God App & Scientology @ the Super Bowl
Academics write a lot about sports and religion and even sports as religion. A Google Scholar search nets more than 2.9 million results!
Think for a second about the similarities: Fans and the faithful have their rituals, their special garb, and their rivalries which define the in-and-out group status that is fundamental to defining belief systems. (You can’t be a Steelers fan AND a Ravens fan; You can’t be Catholic AND Mormon.)
What we saw at the Super Bowl, though, was old-time religion. Jesus returned to the Big Game in commercials for He Gets Us. Scientology made its perennial appearance. And, the Hallow app from no other than Marky Mark was a new addition. So, what’s up with God and the Big Game?
Before we answer that question, let’s take a look at the advertising.
He Gets Us
Beginning with March Madness in 2022, the He Gets Us campaign crept into people’s consciousness becoming the center of considerable controversy by the 2023 Super Bowl. This year’s follow-up was no different. (See my TikTok from last year if you need to get caught up.)
The current controversy breaks down into two main ideas:
Jesus would never spend $100 million on advertising. He would have used it to feed the hungry and house the homeless, and
Why does a guy with incredibly good brand recognition need to be advertised?
The answer to that second question is: he doesn’t. The advertising campaign is not about Jesus. It is about politics.
He Gets Us is a 3-year one-billion-dollar campaign designed to lead up to the 2024 election. It is being funded by right-wing conservatives, including David Green of Hobby Lobby. But he is not the only one. The campaign’s tentacles lead to the Barna Research Group (a conservative research organization), the Alpha Course (a Pentecostal Christian training organization disguised as dinner and a movie), and Gloo (a Koch-backed data and marketing firm).
Christianity, especially evangelical Christianity, took a reputational hit during the Trump years. Republicans know that if they want to bring independent voters back, they need to make following Jesus okay. Given concerns about the cost of the campaign and increasing awareness of its backers, I’m not sure it will.
As for the creative itself, I'm not a fan. The ad shows people in power positions washing the feet of others they might typically disparage. It appears to be AI-generated which gives it the feeling of being distant and inhuman. It made me think, comparatively, of when Pope Francis washed the feet of migrants. That was incredibly powerful imagery. This commercial seemed like it was trying to evoke the say pathos, but it fell far short.
Take a look and see what you think. (Look for the crisis pregnancy center. A quick clue to the organization’s philosophy.)
Hallow App from Marky Mark
Hallow is an app that works like meditation apps, Calm or Headspace, providing guidance for praying. The marketing was targeted toward Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday. Fortuitously, the Super Bowl aired a mere 3 days before giving the product a big audience when they are most likely to use it.
Unlike the HeGetsUs ads, you might not have seen this one because it only aired in 14 markets. Take a look.
On its face, the app is innocuous. Dig a little deeper, and it’s not all it appears to be. (See this Slate piece for a full analysis.) Two things jumped out at me. First, one of the company’s backers is billionaire libertarian, Peter Thiel. He is the textbook definition for why no one should have this kind of money. Among his many dangerous doings was funding Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker in order to make sure the publication went out of business. Thiel did this because he was unhappy about what Gawker wrote about him. For a libertarian, that’s quite an attack on the First Amendment.
And, in a bizarre twist, there is a Sound of Freedom section in the app, which is hosted by Jim Caviezel who starred in the film. Sound of Freedom came out last summer before Barbenheimer. It is loosely based on the life of Tim Ballard and his organization, Operation Underground Railroad (OUR). The film was widely derided for 1) incorrectly depicting sex trafficking, 2) disseminating QAnon theories, and 3) being funded through questionable methods. Amidst the film’s “success,” Tim Ballard left OUR because of accusations of sexual misconduct. Given all the controversy, why include this in the app?
I go into a bit more in this TikTok.
Scientology
This is the 12th year that Scientology ran a commercial during the Super Bowl.
Unlike previous ads, this commercial is an obvious attempt to fight back against the public relations drubbing the company has sustained for more than a decade. There was the revelations in the Tampa Bay Times, the HBO documentary Going Clear by Alex Gibney, and Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, to name a few.
The ad repeats “decide for yourself” and “see for yourself,” an attempt to say suggest you shouldn’t believe what you read. The commercial also presents an aggregation strategy by saying they are open to people of different faiths. In this context, it feels desperate rather than welcoming.
So, why is God at the Super Bowl?
The answer to this question could be a book, but for a blog post I’ll topline it:
1) The fastest growing religious segment in the U.S. is “nones,” those without a religious belief system. Most of them are Gen Z, the demo advertisers want to reach. (Pew Research)
2) Religious “dones,” those who have rejected a belief system, is also a fast-growing group. (If you spend any time on social media, there are large groups of ex-Mormons and exvangelicals, for example.)
3) Media has become so fractured there is nowhere else to get a sizable audience. If you want to get your message out quickly to lots of people, this is about the only place left to do that. That’s why the networks can charge $7 million for a 30-second spot.
4) As I suggest in the text above, this is not about religion. It is about politics. If you want to understand the connection and its impact on 2024, read Anne Nelson’s Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right, and watch the documentary, People You May Know. In case you can’t get it in your area, this TikTok will give you a sense of what’s in it.
Finally, while Americans may not practice traditional faith we are one of the most spiritual industrialized countries in the world. This stems from not having a state-sanctioned religion. Because of this, religions have always had to market themselves and I don’t expect marketing religion to stop any time soon.