A TV ad has been pulled in South Africa after outrage from Christians. It’s a pretty silly, harmless and not overly original cartoon ad for an energy drink, and it depicts Jesus getting out of a fishing boat and walking away on water after being bored :
I don’t get it. This is exactly what Christians are trying to make us believe, that their hero walked on water. And now they’re upset when someone actually depicts him doing just that ?
The advert depicts a cartoon “Jesus” in a boat with two disciples. He proclaims he is bored and steps out of the boat and walks on the water.
A disciple asks whether he is able to do so because he has drunk Red Bull, which “gives you wings”, or because it is a miracle.
“It’s no miracle, you just have to know where the stepping stones are,” Jesus replies.
Then Jesus nearly slips on a stone and says, “Jesus!”.
Seems to me that the ad is doing exactly what it was meant to do. Sell sugared caffeine drinks. Christians are so predictable, it makes it easy for advertisers to stir them a little. The South African Christians are no strangers to fatwa envy either :
“Red Bull wouldn’t dream of mocking religious figures of other religions. Christianity and Jesus in particular are singled out for mockery by secular humanists and other anti-Christian bigots.
“FPI is launching a nationwide boycott of Red Bull products in response to this blasphemous attack on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
I’m sure the Lord Jebus Christ, if he can walk on water, will be able to cope with a TV cartoon. If only he protected us all from his overzealous followers.
The old jebus has something in common with Red Bull, that is, he’s bull. He’s not red or read for that matter.
I’m going to join the boycott of Red Bull. That stuff tastes disgusting.
It makes me like the free Red Bull keychain I swiped the other day even more.
I quite agree with this reflective comment about the Red Bull Ad. I’m a consecrated, devoted disciple and it pains me to see the self-righteous, predictable (as you say) reactions of Christians which are more harmful to the cause of Christianity, I firmly believe, than the advert itself. The ad is more likely to warm people’s hearts to Jesus than anything else. I gnash my teeth in despair at the sectarian & foolish reactions to this ad from the Christian proletariat. I can assure you that Christ, C.S. Lewis and other intelligent thinking people do not have this kind of reactionary attitude.