philosoraptor42

They've decided to put forward their first ever radio advert - and it's AWFUL!

Come as you are,

It’s not hard y’know

Just walk… back

'Cause I see the sun rising over you

You might have left for so many reasons

But am I wrong to sense that now’s the season?

Don’t look to make no airs and graces

Faked up smiles and masked up faces

No need to make no innovation

Please accept this as your invitation

Come as you are….

People lose touch with Church for all sorts of reasons. This Sunday you’re a VIP. We’re inviting you back! Back To Church Sunday is this Sunday at your local Christian Church.

The poem actually sounds much MUCH worse in the advert itself.

A week-long radio campaign, running the ad three times a day, is likely to cost anything from £400 to £900, depending on the size of the station, he added.

"The Church of England has never done anything like this. We wanted people to reassess the way they look at the Church, and remind them that it is time to think again," Wilson said.

It might be time to think again, but not about this. This advert is horrendous.

I wondered where they were getting the money for this from, but it turns out that there's a family trust dedicated to promotion of Christianity paying for it. The Sainsbury family turns out to have a variety of different charities with some much more worthy aims including one which supports general science research, one which supports leukemia reseach, one which suports climate change, sustainable development and improving the quality of life in poorer communities and another one which particularly stood out for me supports HIV/AIDS projects in the UK and Africa, social exclusion, the sexual health of young people, and hospices, resettling prisoners and protecting important monuments. So yeah, this is all very lovely and of all the groups funding evangelism (something I have a particular aversion to) this looks like one of the nicest, but that's all the more reason to ask why the hell they are funding this awful advert?

x posted to