HMPRESENTLY: ‘Scrubbing’ a Religion’s Public Image

“Christianity has a brand problem. If it were a corporation, brand managers would be scrambling to scrub public image — maybe by greenwashing, or with corporate diversity trainings, or by renaming their product…” according to an article in the online news site, Raw Story.

Scrubbing the public image of the world’s biggest religion, with some 2.4 billion followers… that’s a third of the Earth’s population… what a task that must be!

So that’s why those ‘He Gets Us’ ads have been on TV… even during the Super Bowl, for God’s sake! The ‘He’ in the ads, being Jesus.

Scrubbing isn’t cheap. From what I’ve been reading, some big Christian donors are putting up a hundred million dollars to cover brand-burnishing costs.

From what I gather, reading the article in Raw Story and articles in other media as well, it’s the religious right that may be playing a big role in the biggest religion’s brand predicament.

Go figure this whole right-wing thing… actually, an extreme right thing, it seems.

Like various other extreme things, whether we’re talking about extreme right or extreme left politics, or extreme religious dogma, let’s face it, extreme can be mean! And costly!

And occasionally amusing.

Like something I just heard about a rather extreme political being, far-right Congressional Representative Lauren Boebert… about the restaurant she once owned, Shooters Grill, in the community of Rifle, Colorado.

That’s ‘subtle’… Shooters Grill… in Rifle… that featured pistol-packing wait staff, which might have discouraged restaurant patrons from complaining about cuisine… or almost anything, for that matter?

Well, anyway, the Huffington Post just reported Shooters Grill “being turned into a Mexican eatery,” and for some reason, that just seems amusing to me, having heard all sorts of things about the Colorado congresswoman.

A hundred million dollars for polishing Christianity’s brand… that’s kind of amusing, too, in a way.

It’s good to know that he (Jesus) gets us… that’s particularly reassuring, in this day and age.  But a hundred million dollars?

From what I’ve heard, I’m not sure if Jesus would get that…

If Jesus would be feeling sanguine?

Harvey Radin

Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.