ChurchAds.Net, a United Kingdom-based ecumenical charity, is best known for its annual holiday campaign: “Christmas starts with Christ.” Past campaigns have featured a bus shelter nativity and an ultrasound Jesus; but this year, the group is targeting consumers with a rather different image: Godbaby.
The “Godbaby toy” is fictional, but church leaders are hoping eager shoppers will buy into the campaign’s deeper message: that Jesus is the season’s “‘must-have’ Christmas gift.”
U.K. churches, including the Church of England, have endorsed the poster, but others remain uncomfortable with the “tacky” and “blasphemous” image.
In addition to the “Godbaby” poster, ChurchAds.Net is also sponsoring radio campaigns that broadcast the nativity story in the style of a horse race and of a soccer match.
