Why not a ‘He Gets Us’ campaign for traditional values?

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February 16, 2023

“Dad, are you a liberal?”

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Riding in the back seat of the family Dodge, I was 12 when I asked my dad this question.  His reply was a derisive snort.  The entire exchange probably lasted less than five seconds, but I have thought about it often over the years.

At 12, I had no real knowledge of what it meant to be a liberal or a conservative.  But from 1960s television, newspapers, movies, and pop music, I had gleaned that to be “liberal” was to be one of the cool kids.  And what 12-year-old doesn’t want to be one of the cool kids?  If Dad was a liberal, so was I, by default.  And life would be groovy.

Dad’s brusque response was really no surprise.  Nothing about our family suggested that any one of us was cool.  Hard-working, thrifty, law-abiding, God-fearing, yes. In a word: conservative. And conservatives, I had also intuited from entertainment and news media, were dull, old-fashioned fuddy-duddies.  Such was my fate.

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If the subconscious of a budding adolescent more than 50 years ago was so politically influenced by the prevailing media of the day, how much more so have the generations of kids since then, up to today, also been indoctrinated?  Liberal=cool.  Conservative=dull.

This all came to mind again recently as I viewed the Super Bowl.  Among the ads (at $7 million per 30 seconds) for snack chips and soft drinks was an ad for none other than Jesus Christ.  The “He Gets Us” campaign has been around for a couple of years, but this was a big splash aimed at reaching the largest possible audience. “He Gets Us” is an ongoing advertising campaign in the same way that Coca-Cola, Budweiser, and McDonald’s maintain perpetual campaigns that have a cumulative, long-term effect on viewers. 

So: Why not a campaign promoting traditional values?

A concerted, continuous advertising and media campaign promoting the advantage of conservative values, without identifying them as such, is needed to break through the solidly woke media culture.  This would not be an overtly political campaign.  No reference should be made to either major political party, pro or con, or any particular political figures, except perhaps some historical ones. 

The campaign would support the deeply ingrained, latent American ideals of free enterprise, self-determination, individual responsibility, the richness of our history, peace through strength, the value of the family structure, and faith.  The tone should be positive: “What we are for,” not “what we’re against.”

A stylistic model for the ads in this campaign might be the five-minute “Prager U” videos produced by author and radio host Dennis Prager, which have gained hundreds of millions of views. 

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Without getting further into particulars, the first question to answer is: Who will pay for this?  “He Gets Us” says:

Funding for He Gets Us comes from a diverse group of individuals and entities with a common goal of sharing Jesus’ story authentically. Most of the people driving He Gets Us, including our donors, choose to remain anonymous because the story isn’t about them, and they don’t want the credit.

Could this not be accomplished by individuals who believe in the historical greatness of America and who see it threatened as never before, under attack from ideologues who want to replace it with an authoritarian, effectively one-party state?

Media reports say that David Green, the founder of the Hobby Lobby chain of crafts stores, has provided major funding for “He Gets Us.”  Well and good. Is there a corporate chieftain who would endow a foundation to carry on this campaign indefinitely into the future?

“He Gets Us” ads appear on a wide range of broadcast television, cable channels, and programs, and on social media, reaching millions of people who would not likely seek out the story of Jesus and otherwise would not come in contact with it. The same would be true for a campaign promoting traditional American values. Television advertising is intrusive, which is why we complain about it, but also why it is effective.

The campaign should seek the very best advertising and PR agencies to formulate the message and the tactics.  Some may refuse, in their wokeness, but those who currently work on GOP campaigns (carefully vetted), or agencies that work on Christian media campaigns could be retained.  Attorneys should be ready to contest rejection of the spots. 

Very deliberate efforts should be made to reach African-Americans and Hispanics, in particular illegal immigrants.  Specially tailored messages should be developed for each of these groups.  The message should show how traditional values have benefited minority groups in the past, and will continue to produce the best outcomes in the future, especially compared to reliance on government.  Also, the efforts that the country has made over the past 100 years to help minorities should be highlighted.

The traditional-values campaign is necessary to offset the near-total dominance of the progressive message not only on mainstream news media and social media, but maybe more importantly, the entertainment industry, which is critical in establishing what is fashionable and what is not.  To say nothing of public and higher education and the “swamp.”

Any conservative who watches broadcast, cable and satellite television, or spends any time on social media, knows how far entertainment has swung to the woke perspective.  Viewers of “The Andy Griffith Show” reruns on TV Land are regularly subjected to promos for MTV’s “Drag Race,” which  pits drag queens against each other in a contest of the outlandish.  Also, MTV’s “16 and Pregnant,” which normalizes and celebrates teen pregnancy.

The Lao Tzu quotation, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step,” has become a commonplace, but as such, it must hold a good deal of worth to have become so well worn. And it summarizes the position in which  people who hold traditional beliefs find themselves. Such a media campaign might give some encouragement to a 12-year-old boy today who hopefully asks his father, “Dad, are you a liberal?” 

Hugh O’Connor is the pseudonym of a veteran broadcaster and retired professor of mass media.

Image: He Gets Us

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