The advertising industry has recently begun to recognise that human endorsement is more powerful than anything that we read or hear or watch. This is why twitter is so powerful - we automatically "trust" content if it is pushed at us by someone we know, or at least feel we know. Rumour has it that ad agencies are now taking this further and are starting to hire good looking out-of-work actors to go in pairs to public places (the London Underground is a prime example) and paying them to discuss, on packed tube trains, how much they love one product….”I tried that new ** hair product last night – it is fantastic” “Yes, I noticed how much fuller and shinier your hair was looking today” “And have you heard that new song by Graham Kendrick – it is fantastic” (etc…ad infinitum on the Circle line).
The idea behind it is not just to persuade fellow passengers to buy products. People who hear the actors also become endorsers too ….received wisdom becomes accepted wisdom which becomes re-communicated wisdom......and a viral campaign is born.
The idea behind it is not just to persuade fellow passengers to buy products. People who hear the actors also become endorsers too ….received wisdom becomes accepted wisdom which becomes re-communicated wisdom......and a viral campaign is born.
Admen (sorry, Adpeople) are pretty sophisticated in knowing what sells products. Given this, it strikes me that the Church’s best response to the humanist bus campaign (snore) http://www.humanism.org.uk/bus-campaign is not to respond in kind by launching our own set of adverts. Might Ordinand humbly suggest (and he knows a bit about marketing products) that the best thing we could do as a Church is to motivate our congregations to discuss their faith openly in public – with each other . We have to get over our embarrassment and actually talk naturally about our faith. This is much more powerful than any billboard proclaiming the good news will ever be, and I reckon it will lead to follow up conversations with other people. A viral campaign of our own......how cool would that be?
As a starting point, even reading a bible in public, and not saying a word to any fellow passengers would be a good step forward – let’s stand up and be counted - who knows what conversations might follow?
I agree it's important for us to find ways to be 'normally Christian'.
ReplyDeleteI first heard the Gospel at 18 (having gone to church every week from ages 1-15) because I asked a friend at work why she always signed her name with a little fish.
It's so easy to think that we must twist every conversation to include substitutionary atonement, when what often works better is to be open about Jesus, and most importantly ready to give an answer for the hope we have.
I do think there's an important place in God's plans for the megaphones outside tube stations, and knocking on peoples doors to invite them to church, but it's dangerously easy to limit outreach to specific activities.