Gone global despite no advertising budget

Funny thing, advertising. We love it, we hate it, but cannot ignore it. It is reckoned that globally marketers will spend £358 billion on advertising their products this year.

No, that isn't a misprint, that is BILLION. The UK is the fifth largest advertising market in the world, spending a mere £15 billion every year tempting us to buy things we probably don't really want or need. Apparently, the most popular recent TV adverts in Britain are: the Cadbury gorilla drumming along to Phil Collins' 'In the Air Tonight', (unbelievably) those annoying meerkats in Compare the Market, the martians and Smash, and Hamlet cigars (before tobacco advertising was banned in 2003). The John Lewis Christmas advertisement has now become an annual event – last year Monty the Penguin starred, this year it is the Man in the Moon (a 77-year-old French actor, apparently).

This year the Church of England (again, unbelievably) scored a huge hit with its non-advertising campaign. The plan was simple – pay cinemas to show a 60-second ad featuring the Lord's Prayer before the new Star Wars film the week before Christmas. Except that the major cinema chains refused to show it for fear of offending someone... somewhere. Cue snorts of righteous indignation: 'outrageous... This is a prayer that is 2000 years old and informs our whole culture' (Boris Johnson). 'If anybody is ‘offended’ by something so trivial as a prayer, they deserve to be offended' (self-confessed 'cultural Anglican' and atheist, Richard Dawkins). Of course, nothing helps publicity better than a bit of banning and censorship, so millions watched the possibly offensive advert on national TV news and the internet!

So, will we be swayed by advertising this Christmas – subliminally handing over wads of cash to John Lewis, or another favoured retailer? Or, will the CoE have you on your knees around the turkey and tinsel? The Lord's Prayer was given to us by Jesus himself, God incarnate, who knew a thing or two about mangers, shepherds and angels. He has no advertising budget, but has gone global, proclaimed around the world. Light of the World? Prince of Peace? Now, wouldn't that be worth an increasing market share?

Revd Dr Andrew Cinnamond, Vicar of St. Lawrence Church, Lechlade