A Super Bowl message of hope and love from a Christian organization drew mockery from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who likened the commercials extolling Jesus Christ to “fascism.”
The nonprofit Servant Foundation sponsored two Super Bowl commercials as part of the “He Gets Us” campaign. The first featured photos of children in heartwarming situations, including black and white children hugging, as well as a poignant photo from 2019 of 5-year-old Aubrey Burge comforting her 4-year-old brother as he underwent chemotherapy.
“Jesus didn’t want us to act like adults,” the narrator says as legendary country singer Patsy Cline’s “If I Could See The World [Through The Eyes of a Child]” plays. “He gets us. All of us. Be childlike.”
The second ad showed adults arguing and fighting with each other, then stated, “Jesus loved the people we hate,” reiterating, “He gets us. All of us.”
The messages may have inspired millions of viewers of all faiths, but not AOC.
“Something tells me Jesus would *not* spend millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads to make fascism look benign,” the New York lawmaker tweeted.
Something tells me Jesus would *not* spend millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads to make fascism look benign
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 13, 2023
Hobby Lobby founder David Green, a devout Christian and one of the major funders of the He Gets Us campaign, said the group sought to reach the biggest audience of the year with its call for kindness and compassion.
“You’re going to see it at the Super Bowl—‘He Gets Us.’ We are wanting to say—we being a lot of people—that He gets us,” Green said. “He understands us. He loves who we hate. I think we have to let the public know and create a movement.”
This is the ad @aoc claims makes “fascism look benign” https://t.co/H6xmLcaqvu
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) February 13, 2023
“It fits with our target audience really well,” He Gets Us campaign spokesperson Jason Vanderground told The Associated Press. “We’re trying to get the message across to people who are spiritually open, but skeptical.”
Vanderground said the group believed there was room for a message of love amid all the commercials for consumer goods.
“Selling chips is cool, selling light beers, all of that stuff is awesome,” Vanderground said. “I enjoy consuming all those things. There’s something about figuring out the way that we treat fellow human beings that we think is just a profound activity to occur during the Super Bowl.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, some 30-second slots for Super Bowl ads sold for over $7 million, while some cost $6 million because some advertisers had multiyear deals and spent plenty of money generally on ads for shows featuring sports.