Advertising for Catholicism

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GodIsGracious

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Okay, I live in the pit of the Bible Belt here in Dallas, TX. There are probably 4 to 5 different Protestant denomination on the way to the nearest Catholic church from me going in one direction. (Not sure about the other directions.)

So that sets the stage for the kind of area we’re in here. Needless to say, there’s a protestant or two in Dallas. 😉 This isn’t about them, but about advertising.

Along one of the freeways there used to be a couple of billboards advertising for a Protestant denomination (which branch doesn’t matter.) It’s message seemed to be, “We accept everyone and all kinds.” I just saw a thread in the Non-Catholic forum about some other religion using pop up ads on the web to advertise for their religion. And I’ve noticed on our local TV station there’s a slick advertising campaign for Scientology.

One of the things I’ve always wondered, especially seeing how Protestant sects advertise to attract members, why the Catholic Church doesn’t do so. Is it considered “beneath us?” Do we, or does the Catholic Church, feel that the Truth alone should attract? (I don’t disagree with that idea, actually.) But sometimes people don’t realize that we do, infact, have the Truth.

When I saw the tail end of the Scientology commercial it reminded me about the question I had about why the Catholic Church doesn’t advertise. Now, I’m not saying to advertise so people can know about the Catholic Church. I mean, it’s not like mainstream media hasn’t gotten her name out there rather battered and beaten (ref: the latest “shocking” and scandalous headline about something “wrong” the Church has done. :rolleyes:) So, I came up with this idea… a flash of bright light, a cross or a Christ like figure walks towards the screen, “Truth. It will set you free.” And then maybe a website to the local Catholic archdiocese.

I dunno. This is a heavily protestant influenced area. There’s either advertisement, or a church on nearly every corner - which can be advertisement in and of itself. (There’s a small Presbyterian church in front of where Iive, 1.5 mi north on the same street is a HUGE Lutheran church, and, literally, 1/2 mi north, on the same street, there is a huge mega Baptist church.) :eek:

So, anyway, like I said. I dunno. Why doesn’t the Catholic church advertise? It’s not like we’re forcing anything on anyone, we’re simply … presenting The Church. 😉

Comments? Thoughts?
 
We live in the world, not of the world. We advertise by good example and prayer.
 
GodIsGracious said:
So, anyway, like I said. I dunno. Why doesn’t the Catholic church advertise? It’s not like we’re forcing anything on anyone, we’re simply … presenting The Church. 😉

Comments? Thoughts?
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Well, consider that we have a special dignity as the One, True, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and portraying 2000 years of tradition in a 30-second TV ad would be near impossible. Other than that, most dioceses don’t have the money to do such a thing.
Eucharisted said:
We live in the world, not of the world. We advertise by good example and prayer.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, most of us aren’t good at evangelizing by example.
 
We’re neighbors; I live just to the west of you. (BTW, it’s not the “pit of the Bible Belt,” it’s the “Buckle on the Bible Belt.”) The good thing about having a Protestant church on every street corner is that at least there are lots of Christians. It could be lots of athiests or lots of new agers, but in our area, it’s mostly lots of sincere Protestant Christians.

The thing about advertising is that it’s selling something. You sell products, goods, services - temporal things, things that change, go out of style, wear out, have to be replaced. That’s why they have to be promoted; their value is limited. The Catholic Church is eternal and is of unlimited value. It’s not a product that needs to be promoted. Converts keep coming in, so obviously they respond to something other than advertising. Even during the worst of times, like during the molestation scandals, there was still a steady stream of converts. Pretty incredible! The Holy Spirit’s a pretty good ad executive!
 
Rolltide said:
Here ya go!

Catholics Come Home

Commercials
Epic:
youtube.com/watch?v=Vs6qZd_xP1w

Movie:
youtube.com/watch?v=Zv1Du5MFlng&feature=PlayList&p=E15D3FA47A511716&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2

Testimonials:
youtube.com/watch?v=OF7Lk271ahI&feature=PlayList&p=E15D3FA47A511716&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1
Click to expand...
Rolltide: Wow. These are … amazing! I also need to visit that website as I have “come back” home after nearly 20 years of being away from the church.

You guys did remind me of several things. One, the Catholic Church has dignity. And we’re not selling anything. (Not even indulgences! Ok, I kid …)

FickleFreckled (btw, 👋 from the East!), I’m only recently back. Like, this past Christmas - back. I’ve not gotten active my parish yet. So you would certainly know better than I about the conversion rate. And what I’ve heard is that it is the Eucharist, Jesus Christ, that brings people to the Catholic church most often. I know He is what brought me back. I look forward to Mass now.

The thing for me is that I finally got it. I just … GOT IT. That’s the only way I can say it, that I want EVERYONE to get it. ❤️ I agree, we have to evangelize by our actions, and I haven’t been very good about that. I guess that’s something to pray for, huh? :o

So, this thread was just me thinking out loud for ideas and comments. 🙂
 
GodIsGracious,
Welcome Home! So glad you’re back! I was away for many years and came back in the late 80’s.
 
G’day GodIsGracious
Nothing wrong with advertising, our Archbishop in Perth WA has a minute or two in Prime time T.V. whenever he can afford the price. Media is a great place to evengelise and can counteract the negative anti-catholic Press we get. May God bless cheers have a good day geoff
 
Like the OP, I’ve often wondered about the lack of advertising - especially here in the Springs which is home to Focus on the Family and New Life Church (a mega non-denominational church that used to have some political clout but is now better known for Ted Haggard). But I hate the idea of “selling” the church. In addition to the very good argument about our dignity I think the funding issue is quite real here. Here in Colorado Springs, we have annual drives to fund Pro-Life commercials and advertising. I think we focus our priorities appropriately here. Advertising costs a lot… so if we’re going to do it, let’s first try to save lives by alerting the public to the evils of abortion, then let’s save souls.
 
There’s a big billboard in Boston (maybe Somerville? It’s visible from the Upper Deck) that is a low-key invitation to check out the Church. Not sure if the Archdiocese pays for it, or if it’s the K of C. (I don’t live in Massachusetts, I just spend a lot of time going to Boston hospitals. . . .)

The K of C also runs ads in newspapers - not just local papers, either, I think I’ve seen them in Parade. They catch the reader’s interest and then offer to send literature.

It can be done well.
 
JP II made a call for the new evangelization.

That means packaging the old in a way the new will understand and be attracted to without offering less than 100% truth.

As a whole, we in the church continue to do things the same old way - which doesn’t attract anyone to the church let alone encourage people to stay in the church.

When American’s decide to get serious about their faith there are many organizations that can help - until then it really and truly is a one sided battle that I for one will continue to fight. I’m going to start another thread - you have inspired me on another related topic. Thank you.
 
Forgot to add -

The best advertising is word of mouth advertising.

That is why, as much as I love CAF, it will never be “great” evangelization tool. It attempts to be relational through an impersonal means. That said I think it is a good evangelization tool where people seeking the truth can find answers.

If we trully want to get the word out - then get the Word out. Read it, live it, share it.
 
I am not sure if this is what you had in mind but I just saw a TV ad by the Salesians. It was pretty cool.

And our diocese ran many TV ads, especially around Easter.
 
GodIsGracious said:
Okay, I live in the pit of the Bible Belt here in Dallas, TX. There are probably 4 to 5 different Protestant denomination on the way to the nearest Catholic church from me going in one direction. (Not sure about the other directions.)

So that sets the stage for the kind of area we’re in here. Needless to say, there’s a protestant or two in Dallas. 😉 This isn’t about them, but about advertising.

Along one of the freeways there used to be a couple of billboards advertising for a Protestant denomination (which branch doesn’t matter.) It’s message seemed to be, “We accept everyone and all kinds.” I just saw a thread in the Non-Catholic forum about some other religion using pop up ads on the web to advertise for their religion. And I’ve noticed on our local TV station there’s a slick advertising campaign for Scientology.

One of the things I’ve always wondered, especially seeing how Protestant sects advertise to attract members, why the Catholic Church doesn’t do so. Is it considered “beneath us?” Do we, or does the Catholic Church, feel that the Truth alone should attract? (I don’t disagree with that idea, actually.) But sometimes people don’t realize that we do, infact, have the Truth.

When I saw the tail end of the Scientology commercial it reminded me about the question I had about why the Catholic Church doesn’t advertise. Now, I’m not saying to advertise so people can know about the Catholic Church. I mean, it’s not like mainstream media hasn’t gotten her name out there rather battered and beaten (ref: the latest “shocking” and scandalous headline about something “wrong” the Church has done. :rolleyes:) So, I came up with this idea… a flash of bright light, a cross or a Christ like figure walks towards the screen, “Truth. It will set you free.” And then maybe a website to the local Catholic archdiocese.

I dunno. This is a heavily protestant influenced area. There’s either advertisement, or a church on nearly every corner - which can be advertisement in and of itself. (There’s a small Presbyterian church in front of where Iive, 1.5 mi north on the same street is a HUGE Lutheran church, and, literally, 1/2 mi north, on the same street, there is a huge mega Baptist church.) :eek:

So, anyway, like I said. I dunno. Why doesn’t the Catholic church advertise? It’s not like we’re forcing anything on anyone, we’re simply … presenting The Church. 😉

Comments? Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Generally the reason is money, advertisements cost money, usually lots of money.

If you went to your pastor and said I want to run an Ad in the local paper every Saturday and a spot on local radio and TV on Saturday evenings, and I’ll pay for it. I’ll bet he would say “go for it”!
 
When I win the lottery i’m gonna get a billboard and put somthing inspiring about the eucharist:D
 
As a convert, I was not attracted to Catholicism because of advertising, instead, I was invited to come to what was then known as CYO classes by a high school friend and continued to attend Mass with her. After several years of discernment, I entered an RCIA class and was confirmed. What “sold” me on the Catholic church was the Eucharist, first of all, Then, of course, I liked the idea of seven sacraments rather than only two, and the bare cross above the Protestant altar was always bothersome. The Protestant church seemed incomplete.

Could I have been influenced by a billboard? Probably not. Could someone knocking on my door with literature have done it? No, that would have annoyed me, as I had had plenty of experience with Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses who always came calling at impossible hours of the morning.

The best advertising we can do is our example. If someone expresses an interest in the Catholic Church, we can invite them to Mass and also it would be well to have some knowledge of apologetics so that we can intelligently explain the faith, and if the interest continues, direct them to an RCIA class. And of course, our way of life should be the best demonstration–as St. Francis of Assisi said, “preach the gospel and if necessary use words.”

I live in a city where the majority of the population is Catholic. The Catholic churches do not advertise, except for putting their names and numbers in the phone book. Every year, hundreds of people are admitted to the faith either through infant baptism or through RCIA. The faith speaks for itself.

There are a number of what are known as “mega-churches”, which call themselves nondenominational (but I have been to their services and have discerned a distinct anti-Catholic bias), who advertise at great length in the newspaper and on television. One thing that I noticed about a lot of them is that the ads contain large photos of their pastors, as if the pastor was the main attraction, like a movie star.

I have also noted that with many of these churches which advertise, they put a “hard-sell” approach on any visitors, wanting them to sign up as a member immediately. As we know, this is not the approach of the Catholic Church. These other churches do not appear to offer any kind of instruction into the Christian faith but only require that a member be “saved”. It leaves me to wonder whether some of these churches are truly interested in the welfare of their parishioners or in simply increasing membership so that they can boast of a large congregation.

I don’t think that the Catholic Church needs to spend money on advertisements–after all, the Church spread by word of mouth long before the Gospels were written! Let’s not lose sight of that. Grace and Peace be with you all.
 
In Connecticut, I know the vocations office had billboards up along the highways for a while. The vocations director said he was very pleased with the response to those ads.

Also, the Office of Radio and Television for the Archdiocese broadcasts the Mass every weekday on television. It’s on a station that people actually watch, too - not the public access channel.

So there’s some advertising going on. Maybe it just happens more here in the Northeast than elsewhere.
 
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