Christians Strike Back Against Atheist Advertisers
The Russian Orthodox Church has backed a campaign to run on London buses proclaiming “There Is a God,” to counter ads run by atheists that had the headline, “There’s Probably No God.”
News service Ria Novosti reported that CBS Outdoor has the contract to run the ads, which will be funded by Alexander Korobko, the head of the London-based Russian Hour satellite TV channel. His ads will say: “There is a God. Don’t Worry. Enjoy your life!”
The pro-God (pictured) ads raise the prospect that the Russian campaign will be forced by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority to alter its message, to “There Is Probably a God,” which is the converse of what the atheists were forced to do. (Their campaign originally stated “There Is No God; Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”)
The Christian campaign will go up in March.
The Christians v. Atheists advertising war seems to be spreading. In Canada, atheist ads appeared on Toronto buses. But another Canadian city, Kingston, bans all religious advertising, so outdoor company Lamar Advertising cannot take the ads.
BNET’s take: The author of this post is an atheist, but even if he is wrong on that issue he finds it difficult to believe that publicity is His top priority right now.
- See BNET’s previous coverage of religious advertising:
- Christians Complain About Ads That Say “There’s Probably No God”
Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.
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