Comments about ‘Mormon ad campaign draws attention in 9 U.S. markets’

Now WE are getting there...
"Every member a missionary".
Two important facts to know:

1. Any and all success is directly in connection with how one relates to/associates with what one hears, sees, etc.
It is hard to associate with the Church, but one could much easier listen to members and hear what the people say. That takes us so much closer to the point of association where people feel comfortable to say: "Hmmm, I think I want to know more...".

2. The Church's real function has always been to help members in OUR missionary work.
Just as Joseph taught - "teach them correct principles so they can then govern themselves"
Good work!

What we really need is an ad campaign to apologize for the ridiculous behaviour of BYU as of late. I'm ashamed to be an alum; and no I'm not a posing ute fan. I graduated from byu in 97.

I am ashamed at the false pride and greed that eminates from the athletic department. How much is enough? Byu was fine until utah stepped up, and now we are scrambling to keep up with the jones'.

I hate to say it, but I really wish church leadership would get rid of byu athletics just like they did at ricks. It has reached the point where the hate, vitrol, greed, and pride far outweigh any advantages of exposure. When asked where I went to school, I used to proudly talk about my alma mater. More often than not I am now met with a hate filled rant about what arrogant jerks we all are.

Time for change.

The idea, popular among political pundits not very familiar with the Church, that it is secretly a PAC for Mitt Romney is so absurd. There are always LDS people running for political office. And we're two years away from the 2012 presidential election. Apparently the Church must 1) only run PR campaigns in the two-year periods after an election, then go on a two-year hiatus, and 2) not run these ads in any states where LDS pols are running in state or local races in order to avoid speculation that it's all for political purposes.

What nonsense! It's about spreading the gospel. End of story.

So long to being a "peculiar people."
Bye bye to being "in the world but not of the world."

The Church has done a good job in the past with respect to advertising. I remember in the 80's when Reader's Digest carried ads for the Church. This new campaign is going to be even better.

However, there is still so much misinformation about Mormons, even after all these years. I constantly run into people who are reaady to tell me what my church "really" believes. I ask them where they heard whatever fact they bring up, and it is always the same: "My preacher told me."


Some people don't want to know, and refuse to believe, what isn't in their predetermined construct.

This idea of the blog entries is a great vehicle for others to read and see what members of the Church are really about. So much is said from the outside in,by naysayers, but these are from the inside out!

A short time ago, the polls about the attitude and knowledge of the LDS faith showed a lack of understanding of who we are and what we believe.

There most usually is a negative bias. Glad to see a positive outlet, none of which can be fabricated.

Rock on!!1

We ARE a peculiar people. It will take more than an ad campaign to change that!

I live in Missouri and I love these ads. People still think we are like the Amish or the Polygamists. These people on the ad's are so us, they come from all walks of life and the common thread, they are happy.

It's great that we can get our views re the Mormon church out there, but I think that there's a real risk in doing that. I've seen people on Facebook and various blogs who have declared themselves as Mormons and some of those people seem to think it's okay to use foul language, post photos of themselves wearing next to nothing, and air their "dirty laundry" re church leadership and the church in general, etc. LDS people need to be careful in what they post on the Internet - it will always come back to bite you in the end. Thankfully though I've seen more positive comments than negative ones.

Hey Jim. Let's grow up a little. This article has nothing to do with byu athletics and I have not heard one complaint about greed. You just sound like a wayward person trying to find somerthig to complain about. Also take it from a former byu football player that byu athletics are an amazing missionary tool for players and common fans alike. Members find strength in rooting for them and players find the church and testimonies while participating. Take your hate speech to another forum and leave this article to those who are interested in it's contents and uplifting thought.

Dear Jim Marshall: OH, HONESTLY! How off point can you get?

The Mormon church continues to pursue its aganda of rolling forth to consume the earth... starting with NCAA football, the GOP, and Utah real estate. You have to admire the strategy!

LOL!

Also Jim- What BYU does next will be more akin to what this ad campaign is doing than anything else. By choosing to play football as an independant team, more games might be shown on BYU TV, then more non-members will possibly tune in there to watch the games. And then, they might just "accidentally" bump into a Church message or devotional, etc.

Sit back and think about one FACT - the BYU athletic department will do nothing, and I mean NOTHING, without the approval of the Board of Trustees. And you know who they are, and they are NOT governed by greed.

The old ad campaign of being "a peculiar people" didn't work out so well.
Now we desperately want to fit in the mainstream.

@Jim Marshall 5:13am

Your misguided opinion most likely represents less than 1% of the LDS church population.

What EXACTLY is the "ridiculous behavior of BYU as of late"??? I can only assume you are speaking of the RUMORS circulating as regards the direction of BYU athletic programs. BYU has not come forth with any official statement in this regard. So what exactly are you talking about - your list, please.

You say BYU was "fine" until Utah went to the Pac-10. I have news for you - BYU was fine, and will still be fine regardless of what Utah, or any other school does in or out of the MWC. And who are you to say BYU is fine, or not.

You want church leadership to do away with athletics at BYU. Why then didn't you enroll at the LDS Business College in SLC in the first place, then YOU wouldn't have to worry about athletics.

Without the athletic programs at BYU, especially the BYU Football team, your once "proud" alma matter wouldn't enjoy the notoriety and respect it does today. But you have no appreciation for this fact.

You are in a small minority.

What I find disingenuous about these ads is that they make it appear as though mormonism is just one part of their lives. It comes across as “I like to do this, and this, and this, and oh, yeah….almost forgot — I’m a mormon.” It has been my personal experience that when a person is a mormon, they are first and foremost a mormon and other interests take a backseat to the religion. The mormons that I had the most exposure to (family, friends, the ward members that I grew up with) revolved their lives around the mormon church with very few outside interests. Mind you, this is only my personal experience, but I can’t be the only one out there that feels this way.
When people see these ads, they think the church and the members think and act that way. When they find out that they were just treated to a nice “bait and switch”, they will go right out that revolving door.
And as a side note, has anybody seen the ads that Scientology put out last year that are verbatim?

I see this campaign as a very significant moment in Church history. We are officially portraying ourselves not as some monolithic ideal, but as a diverse community of very human believers. In the profiles, there are examples of interracial marriage, working moms, musicians and artists, and even facial hair! These are not your typical Glen Beck-following "End of Times," fearful-of-the-"world" Mormons. Rather, they are optimistic, joyful, interactive Mormons.

I hope that Church members are aware enough to see the message coming from our Church leaders. Now is not the time to "flee from Babylon" and bunker ourselves behind the Zion curtain. We must act as leaven in the larger world. We must lift, serve, do good, and love, regardless of religious divides. One can be an individual, and still be part of this community.

More words isn't the final answer. More talking about ourselves isn't the final answer - we've talked about ourselves for the past 40 years.

Being more friendly, being more real, being less insular, helping more people right around us, and disseminating and developing the power President Packer said we are still lacking, and using it to help others - these are the things that, in the end, will bring people to join us

But more talking, telling about more scripture when they don't even read the bible they have, telling them they can have an eternal family when their family is a stressful pathological mess, just won't cut it. The people in these last days desperately need healing, and we won't do anyone any good if we just want to describe the chemistry and origin of the components.

We need to open and close with love, and tell them how the church works if and when they ask.

To make use of one of the Oxford Dictionary's newest words, I think a lot of people on here need to "chillax."

Jim Marshall, it's true that some fans behave badly, but perhaps it's a bit extreme to desire the abolition of the whole BYU athletics program.

To those who accused Jim of hate speech and being an apostate, let's recognize the truth in what he points out and see what we can do to encourage civility and sportsmanship.

Curmudgeon and Ernest, the Church has not betrayed its essence and embraced Babylon by pointing out that this is a gospel for all people, of all kinds. Check out the website and you'll see that it does not attempt to hide our "peculiar" beliefs.

Levi, it's an interesting point, but I think that by mainly talking about what they are besides being Mormons, the people in the ads are trying to show what kinds of lives LDS people live. It's about first dispelling misconceptions about what kind of people Mormons are before trying to teach the public what we believe.

I think the Church has the wrong idea about how people outside the Church view Mormons. They can see them as good and productive members of society, however they often find the doctrine, history, rituals, and beliefs problematic and unbelieveable.
That's the real problem....not the Mormon people personally. Mormons seem to not understand that they give a condesending attitude when they project that their lives are superior to the lives of those outside Mormonism when in all reality they are not better or worse....since quality of life varies with each individual.

A view from the outside!