PowerMedia

Some commercials on television are clearly inappropriate. For example, you are not going to see a commercial for Trojan condoms while watching Nick Jr. on a Monday morning. Other commercials seem inappropriate all of the time, like the commercial during an NFL game several weeks ago featuring a scantily clad Nicolette Sheridan trying to seduce Terrell Owens as he prepared for the upcoming game. There are other commercials, however, that come along every so often that for one reason or another upset the wrong people, and end up being banned from certain networks. One of these commercials is the recent commercial for the United Church of Christ (UCC). The commercial in question begins with two bald "bouncers" standing in front of a church, allowing some people in, and denying others entrance. It then shows a group of diverse people standing in front of a church as a voice over says, "The United Church of Christ. No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey...you're welcome here." Before it's original airing on TV, NBC and CBS decided not to air the commercial because it might be considered "too controversial". According to an article on the stillspeaking.com website, "According to a written explanation from CBS, the United Church of Christ is being denied network access because its ad implies acceptance of gay and lesbian couples -- among other minority constituencies -- and is, therefore, too 'controversial.'" You can read this and other articles on the following website: http://www.stillspeaking.com/news/release2.html.

Another article shown on tolerance.org further discusses the motives of the two stations not to allow this commercial. “We have a longstanding policy of not accepting advocacy ads or issue-oriented ads, “‘So, this answers the question of why certain networks will not play the commercial.’” You can read more from this website here: http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=1114

Another question that might be asked is how exactly the United Church of Christ responded to the ban of the commercial by NBC and CBS. The previous article also talks about the UCC’s response to the two networks’ feelings of the commercials. According to this article, the UCC is not trying to say that all other churches are discriminatory; they are simply saying that they are not. Says UCC spokesperson Barb Powell "‘(The ad) is not about an issue. It's not about bashing other churches. We believe all churches have a legitimate voice. And we believe all religious voices deserve to be heard.’" This is an interesting point, but it is somewhat hard to take too seriously. The fact that the commercial shows bouncers in front of a church sending people away shows that it is casting a negative light over some churches. Does the imagery work? Of course it does. I have personally only seen the commercial twice (and both times were at the same sitting), and I still remember the strong imagery. This includes the bouncers standing out in front of the church, as well as the gay couple getting sent away, the Hispanic-looking teenager getting sent away, as well as the boy in a wheelchair. Although the commercial has sparked controversy, it is not off of most major networks. So, the public will have the chance to see these commercials, and the images will be remembered. This commercial reminds me of an advertising campaign that started maybe fifteen years ago (if my memory serves me correctly). This campaign was for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. I remember one commercial in particular in which a man is riding his bike, and an SUV drives by and splashes a puddle of water on him. The man on the bike looks somewhat frustrated. However, later down the road, the man in the SUV is broken down, and out of the goodness of his heart, the man on the bike pulls over to help the man change his tire. Now, I have not seen that commercial for at least ten years, and I can recount those images without really too much difficulty. If the UCC commercials generate a few more commercials in their campaign, there is a good chance that many people who are searching for themselves or that are not happy with their current religion will become interested in becoming a member.

Although the United Church of Christ is not yet an extremely popular religion, church leaders hope that after a series of commercials (including the one mentioned above with the bouncers, first airing on December 1^st) will bolster its recognition. If you would like to know more about the UCC, you can take a look at some of the websites posted below. Otherwise, look for their commercials on TV, and decide for yourself whether they are worthy of being banned, and whether NBC and CBS will kick themselves for not airing a commercial that would have boosted their ratings.

http://www.ucc.org/index1.html (OFFICIAL WEBSITE)

http://chuckcurrie.blogs.com (UCC BLOGS)

http://www.madhoo.com/archives/002663.php (BLOG AGAINST UCC)

---Mike D.