Good "God"

I remember one of the most fascinating ad campaigns I came across while researching for an Advertising paper back in Uni called the "God" campaign. Pressed for time, I simply flipped through one of those advertising 101 references and recalled how it literally jumped out at me from its yellowed pages.

The "God" campaign was put out to, well, you've guessed it: advertise God. Concerned over the increasingly materialistic culture evident among Singaporeans, 150 churches united under the Love Singapore Movement to sponsor the 2 million dollar campaign. The objective: to instill God consciousness.

Have a look at some of the newspaper ads:




Here's one placed in an underpass, the copy says "I am here, God":


This one's a sticker placed on apples:


What struck me most was the display of wit and humour expressed in the copy - hats off to Ogilvy Singapore. Growing up in a Christian environment, I've witnessed all kinds of Christian-related promos, often time, falling prey to the overly churchy portrayal i.e. doves fluttering around rivers, forests, waterfalls, and mountains or a close-up shot of an eagle soaring, all these accompanied by some scriptures - think Our Daily Bread.

What's more, in the ad, each witty line is signed off by "God", breaking the stereotyped perception of God as an iron-fisted, irrelevant, faraway creator. He seems way nearer than we think, and for the first time, you see that God can be funny too.

The campaign went on to score two gold Cannes Lion award but not without sparking some controversy among other religious groups.

But suffice to say, "God" was good.

For more ads from the campaign, see it here.