Inside Culture

He Gets Us at Super Bowl

Rihanna’s much-anticipated halftime show was a huge draw at the Super Bowl, but ad spots for He Gets Us speak to simmering cultural tensions at the heart of the US.

“We are wanting to say – we being a lot of people – that he gets us. He understands us. He loves who we hate. I think we have to let the public know and create a movement.” So said billionaire David Green on why he would be funding ads to promote Jesus at the Super Bowl. Amid playful spots for Pepsi, Dunkin Donuts, and Doritos, the two ‘Jesus, He Gets Us’ ads certainly stood out. These PR spots for Jesus signal the confidence that organisations with partisan values have in flexing their reach within mainstream culture. And while the message of unity could be seen to speak across a polarised population – especially following on from a heckle-filled State of the Union address by President Biden earlier in the month – many commentators have called out the $20 million ad spend. "Something tells me Jesus would not spend millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads to make fascism look benign," Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. As Evangelical Christianity makes itself felt across the spectrum of American outlooks, people are seeking new ways to both integrate and interrogate the presence of faith in their personal lives. For example, Gen Z platform Praying decontextualises religious imagery and statements, selling them as merch to believers and non-believers alike. Meanwhile, F3 builds community around fitness and faith in Texas.

28%
of Americans say they have a stronger personal faith because of the pandemicPEW RESEARCH CENTER, 2021
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