'Love Your Enemies' message gets critics up in arms

With conflict continuing to rage across the world, the Christian organisation He Gets Us cuts straight through the confusion with a searingly simple message: 'Love Your Enemies'. The not-for-profit was established in 2022 and has put out other ad campaigns. The impact of this one - and another which was broadcast at the same time - comes from the placing: it appeared during the 2023 edition of the US Super Bowl sporting event, which demands a cool $10 million for a 30-second spot and commands some 113 million viewers. The commercials served up during the National Football (NFL) game can be even more talked about than the game itself, and competition among brands is fierce for the high-ticket slots. The He Gets Us campaigns link the compassionate activism of religious figure Jesus Christ to difficult contemporary issues such as ongoing warfare, immigration, and artificial intelligence. What do you think? Brilliant way of communicating the much-needed power of love and how to look at/around ourselves? Or irrelevant and/or offensive, particularly in the traditionally fun-focused, sports/beer/music/foodfest environment of the Super Bowl? Some critics are uncomfortable with the outlay of so much money for a religious message. Political figure Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (aka AOC) tweeted that the spot promotes 'fascism', without refining on that accusation. The spot was one of the most-watched and certainly continued to spark discussion well after the final whislte had blown on the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. He Gets Us itself says of this campaign: "We see conflict all around us. We align ourselves on different sides of the fight in battles of politics, religion, justice, and too often, we let that conflict morph from a dignified defense of something good into a dehumanizing attack on the people we don’t agree with. It’s tearing us apart." Hard to disagree with? The soundtrack is 'Human' by English singer/songwriter Rag'n'Bone Man.

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