Two advertisements announcing Jesus’ message of acceptance are worth $20 million, paid for by the Christian He Gets Us campaign, which aired during the Super Bowl on February 12. The campaign is funding TV ads, online ads and billboards as part of a $100 million effort to humanize Jesus and Christianity.
The ads are part of a series the organization has been running since November 2021. THE first Super Bowl commercial showed a series of images with children kissing before the slogan “Jesus didn’t want us to act like adults.” THE second displayed images of adults yelling at each other, then the line “Jesus loved the people we hate”. Both ended with the statement “He understands us. All of us,” and directed viewers to the website. November-December Latest Data, He Gets Us Website Traffic tripleaccording to web analytics company Similarweb.
He Gets Us is funded by the signatory, also known as the Servant Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Overland Park, Kansas, which donates funds to Christian organizations. The campaign intends to rebrand Jesus as a symbol of unconditional love and peace, and away from the hatred and oppression he has become associated with among some, according to his website. But little is known about who and how many donors are funding it. And despite He Gets Us website claiming it is neither right nor left, the Signatry donates funds to conservative Christian organizations fighting causes such as abortion access and LGBTQ rights, according to its Form 990who discloses his donations to the Internal Revenue Service.
Donors to the He Gets Us campaign can remain anonymous, and most have. But in November, David Green, founder and CEO of craft store Hobby Lobby, said his family helps fund ads. Green, the son of a preacher and devout Christian, is worth $14.8 billion according to Forbes. He previously helped fund the $500 million Museum of the Bible located in Washington D.C.
Spends $1 billion to market Jesus
Over the next three years, He Gets Us plans to invest $1 billion in advertising for Jesus, Jason Vanderground, who is working on the campaign, says Christianity today. He Gets Us did not immediately respond to questions from the Observer.
The Super Bowl ads have sparked controversy on Twitter. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Congresswoman and Democrat from New York, tweeted“Something tells me that Jesus would *not* spend millions of dollars on Super Bowl commercials to make benign fascism look.”
Signatry’s most recent Form 990 covers the period from April 2020 to March 2021. During this period, it secured $627 million in funding and donated $391 million. The National Christian Foundation, a Georgia-based nonprofit that donates to churches and charities, received the highest amount, $50.8 million. The signer also donated $48.1 million to Every Home for Christ, a nonprofit that provides funds to Christian groups around the world. Other recipients include Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal defense group support anti-LGBTQ legislation and Live Action, an anti-abortion organization that has been banned on multiple social media platforms to spread misinformation and conspiracies.
The signatory has donated funds to more than 1,500 unique organizations during this time. Its CEO, Stephen French, was paid $255,000 in fiscal 2021.
