Never Advertise?



I raised a number of concerns, but much of my objection came down to this: if we use mass-marketing to attract people to the pews, the people who are attracted by such things will be awfully disappointed when they get there. If a person is the type that falls for sharp lights, loud sounds, excitement, and jokes, what he sees on the altar probably won’t impress him and he’ll leave.

At least one reader said that the modern advertising could be done tastefully and in a way that doesn’t mislead. I wrote back, saying, “I hope you’re right.”

And then I saw this.

A new book, Open the Door, which has received support from at least one bishop in the Church of England, wants Christians to use things like lingerie parties to attract people to the Church.

The book argues that in an age when more people know their zodiac signs than the Ten Commandments, Christians have to use unconventional methods to reverse the decline in churchgoing.

So push sex at people in order to get them to pray.

It won’t work. You might as well get people drunk in order to lure them to an Anti-Saloon League meeting. They might show up in a haze, but when they find out it’s not about drinking, they’ll leave, unless you slip them some booze under the table.

The same thing will happen with the use of sex to lure people to Church. The lascivious who enjoy such things typically aren’t the type that like to hear about chastity. They’ll only stick around if you slip them some sex under the table. Maybe the preacher can read from the Song of Solomon a lot.

It’s my belief that all such attempts to appeal to potential worshippers through modern means are doomed to fail precisely because much of modern society is arraigned against piety and faith.

But I’m not against all mass-market advertising with a higher purpose. The advertising just needs to lower its scope a little.

By addressing moral issues, for instance.

Last Spring, Campaign for Our Children, Inc. launched a “marriage works” campaign, designed to tell young people about the advantages of marriage. The group is launching two more campaigns this fall, including one that emphasizes abstention from sex. The videos will air on the NBC Astrovision Screen in Times Square. The videos are hip, sassy, and loud. Just the type of thing young consumers like.

This is good.

It doesn’t suffer the same problem as faith mass-marketing. Here, the mass-marketing is appealing to consumers who can “fall” for such hooks, yet also heed the message. The two are not entirely inconsistent.

Perhaps more importantly, the marketing is geared toward youth, especially the sort who might be inclined to experiment sexually, the type who are more inclined to indulge the cheap thrills on which modern advertising capitalizes. By bringing them a message in a medium they’ll watch, perhaps they can make a difference in the bedrooms of America’s youth (especially its young women).

Of course, the campaign has its detractors. One advertising publication said of it, “Marriage does not always guarantee an ideal life.”

Um, yes, that’s true. But all the statistics show that marriage greatly increases the possibility of a good life. And these advertisements recite the facts: married women are more likely to raise crime- and drug-free children; married women are more likely to live above the poverty line; married women are less likely to be abused.

These are facts, and I don’t care how we get the message out there. It can be through a lingerie party, for all I care. They should be screamed from the rooftops.

And from the screens in Time Square.

© Copyright 2005 Catholic Exchange

Eric Scheske is an attorney, the Editor of The Daily Eudemon, a Contributing Editor of Godspy, and the former editor of Gilbert Magazine.

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