- Evangelical group He Gets Us returns to the Super Bowl for the fourth year in a row with a message that pitches Jesus as a source of relief from the noise of modern life. The :60 spot will air during the second half of the game.
- The campaign is run by nonprofit evangelical group Come Near, which is on a mission to “invite all people one step closer to the authentic Jesus from wherever they are.”
- The brand created the ad with the Los Angeles-based Pretty Bird production company and director Solomon Ligthelm – who has also done ads for HP and Ford– as well as Texas-based independent agency Lerma.
Faith-based groups running ads in the big game are not uncommon. The Church of Scientology, Catholic prayer app Hallow and Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism have all popped up with Super Bowl Ads. He Gets Us was started in 2021.
by The Servant Foundation, a group led by Hobby Lobby CEO David Green, aimed at increasing conversations about Jesus.
“What better place to do that than the Super Bowl?,” said Come Near’s chief creative officer, Simon Armour, who has worked with brands including: Adidas, Netflix, Uber, Uber Eats, Popeyes, Wendy’s, Shake Shack, Starbucks and Taco Bell during his years in the agency world in Portland.
In 2024, Come Near – a group whose board includes evangelicals Chairman Rob Hoskins, Nicole Martin, John Kim, Mart Green, Joey Sager, and Gary Nelson – acquired the campaign and continued the message to evangelize Jesus but shifted the approach to focus more on the personal lives of constituents (or neighbors as the group calls their target market).
“It evolved more to this idea of Jesus gets you, all of you, in whatever you’re feeling, whatever you’re facing, whatever you’re going through,” explained Armour. “Starting in December, when we went live with this campaign, it made that kind of evolution.”
The group is looking to connect to “spiritual seeking people,” with spots that focus on the pressure of modern life and the unique challenges people are facing in an era of always-on technology, 24 news, pop culture, work culture and politics. “What we’re hearing from people is, my life needs more meaning and purpose,” said Armour.
The ad is aimed at everyone but is specifically targeting Gen Z who may be facing economic hardship and unable to afford the American Dream. “There’s this sense of, hey, we’re following the rules, but it’s not really taking us to the place that it’s promising. So what is this life?”
