Over 100 million people worldwide watched the Super Bowl. Many, like me, are more interested in the commercials than the actual game. As a creative professional who loves creating stuff that’s fearless, factual, and freeing, I enjoy some of the annual, overly-priced creativity.
Well, it came time for a commercial break. INXS’ “Never Tear Us Apart” played as highly stylized photos, made to look like illustrations, showed various scenes of people washing other people’s feet. The visuals were beautiful. Each image showed contention, sorrow, brokenness, and humility over a pensive piano ballad. It seemed to cover every social issue under the sun.
And I was moved.
Then, a jarring thing happened. The peace was interrupted by distorted musical hits and the words: “Jesus Never Taught Hate. He Washed Feet.” Wait. What? As the #HeGetsUs website came up, I sighed. That was an $18 million rebrand of Christianity gone woke.