Extravagant Jesus Super Bowl Ads
Illustration
Stories
Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” (vv. 7-8)
The first time I saw one of the “He Gets Us” Jesus ads during the Super Bowl two years ago, I sat up and said to my wife, Jo, “This is great! I wonder who is sponsoring this.” When I found out who, and what their motives were, I was deeply disappointed.
So, when I saw the two 7-million-dollar foot washing ads during the Super Bowl, last year I watched with a cynical eye. And judging by the firestorm of negative responses in the media I was not alone. Criticism came from both the left and the right sides of the religious and political divide.
The ads, which cost 20 million dollars to produce, are a slide show of twelve stills by fine arts photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten. The images are compelling. A white cop is shown washing the feet of a black man in a rundown neighborhood. A white suburban Chicago woman in a pink sweater is seen washing the feet of a brown migrant woman as several of her fellow travelers climb off the bus behind them. An anti-abortion protester is shown washing the feet of a young woman who is presumably seeking an abortion.
Many followers of Jesus are horrified at what the sponsors of these ads actually believe. John Pavlovitz, author of “A Bigger Table,” wrote, “‘He Gets Us’ is a campaign created by… Evangelicals who least get Jesus and who are doing everything antithetically to his teachings.”
Looper News reported that “He Gets Us” has put out many commercials over the years, most of which don't seem to have any agenda on the surface other than promoting the teachings of Jesus Christ. The organization says on its website that it doesn't want to be labeled as being left-wing or right-wing. It simply wants to get Jesus' message out to the world. However, “He Gets Us” has received major contributions from Hobby Lobby co-founder David Green, who's been at the center of various conservative battles over the years, which includes aiding anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.”
Surprisingly, some conservative groups who support Green’s agenda griped that the ads were too leftist, a celebration of wokeness. Aja Romno wrote in Vox, “The objections seemed to deliberately miss the ad’s point – that we should all try harder to love one another – in favor of complaining that the campaign’s emphasis on diversity was pernicious and that it sinfully portrayed Jesus as a divine social worker…”
Some progressive Christians denounced the extravagant cost of the washed feet ads. The twenty million spent on production, plus the fourteen million spent to air the commercials during the Super Bowl, could have been used to feed the poor, they complained. But then in John’s Gospel, we read about the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with a costly perfume, and how Judas, who was about to betray him, exclaimed, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor? Jesus said, “Leave her alone…You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
Would Jesus have said the same about an extravagant 44-million-dollar Super Bowl ad seen by 123.4 million people, the largest ever television audience?
Clergy friends on Facebook shared a variety of opinions:
Pastor Jeffery Blair of Englewood, Ohio, wrote, “ I just wonder if we can’t see that the message in itself is actually a place to start a conversation. Doesn’t Jesus himself say to his disciples, ‘those who aren’t against me are for me?’ We pastoral types have way too much time on our hands to hyperventilate over a commercial that in and of itself is pretty innocuous with a message that if it came from Coca Cola or Apple would have been applauded.”
But Dawn Barker Baird, pastor of Lakehills United Methodist Church in Lakehills, Texas, wrote, “A woman at our house during the Super Bowl genuinely asked what all the images meant. It was a great ministry moment in the midst of a Super Bowl game party… So yes, a ridiculously priced advertisement made a difference in the life of at least one person....”
Ellis Felker, a friend from Boaz, Wisconsin, who is not a church-goer, but is a devoted follower of the teachings of Jesus, sent me this comment in an email:
“John…yes, I am aware of the conservative Christian groups behind the ‘HE GETS US’ ads…I hope people who go to their website don’t get taken in by their brand of Christianity, which is mostly judgment and division…making one into two…I was raised on that…and it still surrounds me…it is the way of the world…but the ad of WASHING THE FEET really moved me…it brought tears to my eyes…it showed Love… the ad told me to forget about Jesus and BE Jesus in the world…”
As for me, I am deeply troubled by the political agenda of the financial supporters of the “He Gets Us” ads. Yet I recognize that on the surface the ads may touch hearts in a way that Jesus likely would have approved.
The first time I saw one of the “He Gets Us” Jesus ads during the Super Bowl two years ago, I sat up and said to my wife, Jo, “This is great! I wonder who is sponsoring this.” When I found out who, and what their motives were, I was deeply disappointed.
So, when I saw the two 7-million-dollar foot washing ads during the Super Bowl, last year I watched with a cynical eye. And judging by the firestorm of negative responses in the media I was not alone. Criticism came from both the left and the right sides of the religious and political divide.
The ads, which cost 20 million dollars to produce, are a slide show of twelve stills by fine arts photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten. The images are compelling. A white cop is shown washing the feet of a black man in a rundown neighborhood. A white suburban Chicago woman in a pink sweater is seen washing the feet of a brown migrant woman as several of her fellow travelers climb off the bus behind them. An anti-abortion protester is shown washing the feet of a young woman who is presumably seeking an abortion.
Many followers of Jesus are horrified at what the sponsors of these ads actually believe. John Pavlovitz, author of “A Bigger Table,” wrote, “‘He Gets Us’ is a campaign created by… Evangelicals who least get Jesus and who are doing everything antithetically to his teachings.”
Looper News reported that “He Gets Us” has put out many commercials over the years, most of which don't seem to have any agenda on the surface other than promoting the teachings of Jesus Christ. The organization says on its website that it doesn't want to be labeled as being left-wing or right-wing. It simply wants to get Jesus' message out to the world. However, “He Gets Us” has received major contributions from Hobby Lobby co-founder David Green, who's been at the center of various conservative battles over the years, which includes aiding anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.”
Surprisingly, some conservative groups who support Green’s agenda griped that the ads were too leftist, a celebration of wokeness. Aja Romno wrote in Vox, “The objections seemed to deliberately miss the ad’s point – that we should all try harder to love one another – in favor of complaining that the campaign’s emphasis on diversity was pernicious and that it sinfully portrayed Jesus as a divine social worker…”
Some progressive Christians denounced the extravagant cost of the washed feet ads. The twenty million spent on production, plus the fourteen million spent to air the commercials during the Super Bowl, could have been used to feed the poor, they complained. But then in John’s Gospel, we read about the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with a costly perfume, and how Judas, who was about to betray him, exclaimed, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor? Jesus said, “Leave her alone…You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
Would Jesus have said the same about an extravagant 44-million-dollar Super Bowl ad seen by 123.4 million people, the largest ever television audience?
Clergy friends on Facebook shared a variety of opinions:
Pastor Jeffery Blair of Englewood, Ohio, wrote, “ I just wonder if we can’t see that the message in itself is actually a place to start a conversation. Doesn’t Jesus himself say to his disciples, ‘those who aren’t against me are for me?’ We pastoral types have way too much time on our hands to hyperventilate over a commercial that in and of itself is pretty innocuous with a message that if it came from Coca Cola or Apple would have been applauded.”
But Dawn Barker Baird, pastor of Lakehills United Methodist Church in Lakehills, Texas, wrote, “A woman at our house during the Super Bowl genuinely asked what all the images meant. It was a great ministry moment in the midst of a Super Bowl game party… So yes, a ridiculously priced advertisement made a difference in the life of at least one person....”
Ellis Felker, a friend from Boaz, Wisconsin, who is not a church-goer, but is a devoted follower of the teachings of Jesus, sent me this comment in an email:
“John…yes, I am aware of the conservative Christian groups behind the ‘HE GETS US’ ads…I hope people who go to their website don’t get taken in by their brand of Christianity, which is mostly judgment and division…making one into two…I was raised on that…and it still surrounds me…it is the way of the world…but the ad of WASHING THE FEET really moved me…it brought tears to my eyes…it showed Love… the ad told me to forget about Jesus and BE Jesus in the world…”
As for me, I am deeply troubled by the political agenda of the financial supporters of the “He Gets Us” ads. Yet I recognize that on the surface the ads may touch hearts in a way that Jesus likely would have approved.
