Sometimes an advertisement can be the focus of significant news coverage - intentionally or by accident.It is hard to say which course of action has put the Church of England's pre-Christmas 60 second advertisement intended for screening in cinemas prior to the latest film release in the Star Wars series in the spotlight. Could the C of E really be that smart, or indeed that naive, to think despite approval of the British Board of Film Classification and the Cinema Advertising Authority it would not attract attention. Christmas is arguably the star in the C of E's biblical portfolio, but a brand under attack from the American big business promotion of 'Holidays' as a challenger to the whole Christmas franchise that should be the C of E's exclusive territory.
The 'Happy Holidays' mission to displace the original 'Christmas' branding has been slowly creeping in through business neutral greetings cards sent to customers for years now and gaining traction in retail outlets as the season becomes a huge sales opportunity that doesn't really want religion getting in the way. Interestingly the C of E has opted for the non-traditional version of the Lord's Prayer which provides the narrative for the advertisement which I think is a marketing error. One which may possibly risk alienating their traditional audience who might prefer the more dramatic wording of the original. Either way the Church of England has pitched in with two of its prime icons brought together with powerful images.
The news storm has gained far more mileage than the advertisement would have achieved alone.
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