Ask not what You can do for God...

In the book, we've included a whole chapter on how the You Sell is being harnessed by spiritual leaders and spiritual entrepreneurs alike to draw people in. The idea, in its simplest terms, is that today's consumers (of products and ideas) are not responsive to rules and obligations. They're certainly not interested in guilt. Instead, the best way to appeal to would-be adherents is to express to them what your world view can do for them—how they can use your belief system to improve their lives and, most importantly, to self-actualize.

And so it's been fascinating to watch the advertising war unfold between Atheists and Christian groups in the UK (and elsewhere, to a lesser extent). 

It began when Atheists in Britain paid to place ads on 800 London buses that read: There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

The ads are a clear appeal to the average person's desire for permission and autonomy—the freedom to live the life they want to live, and not to be judged for it. If there is no God, then moral authority rests with each and every one of us. We are the final arbiters of right and wrong. In other words: Relax, you have to justify your choices to yourself and no one else. It's a very seductive message.

Now, the Russian Orthodox Church has issued a retort in the form of a series of bus ads that read: "There is a God. BELIEVE. Don't worry and enjoy your life." 

Amazingly, they've made use of the same rhetorical tool—selling the idea of personal freedom. There is a God, they're saying, but he's not there to make your life difficult. He's not there to judge you. He wants you to be relax and enjoy.  It's this kind of messaging that Christian marketing consultants say is the best way for churches to reach out to the "unchurched" and try to bring them back into the fold. Tell them: It's not what you can do for the Church, it's what the Church can do for you.

 

  

Ego Blogging

Hi. This is our new blog, where we'll post stories, ideas, and feedback relating to our book, The Ego Boom: Why the World Really Does Revolve Around You, which hit the stores on January 27. 

Every day we seem to stumble on a fantastic new example of the You Sell—marketing messages that pronounce indiscriminately: You're special! You're unique! You deserve the best! Our goal here is to flag creative uses of the You Sell in action, and ideally, to strike up a conversation about what it all means. 

One such example: We're constantly being warned of a burgeoning "self-esteem crisis" among girls. As such, for some time now, companies targeting tween girls have bent over backwards to associate their product with self-esteem—as though it were something parents can charge on Amex. American Girl, whose pricey Just Like You line of dolls is designed to mirror each individual girl, tells its customers, "American Girl celebrate's a girl's inner star." Dove, showered with accolades for its Real Beauty ad campaign, has created its own "self-esteem fund" to develop tools and resources that will help girls "celebrate their individual beauty." 

A new one we came across this week is Rebelle, a line of handbags for tween girls that, once again, tells parents that an investment in Rebelle is an investment in your daughter's emotional well-being and future place in the world. 

"Our mission goes far beyond creating hot looking accessories," write the makers of Rebelle. "It's not just about the look, it's about the message. At Rebelle, our goal is to help tween girls build their self esteem by teaching them to believe in themselves and their friendships regardless of the challenges they face." 

The gimmick of Rebelle handbags is that some of them have detachable sub-bags that can be shared and swapped with a friend, a.k.a, their BFF. Of course, this assumes the tween in question has friends. Otherwise, the whole self-esteem angle could backfire.

Stay tuned.

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