New York finally gets its pro-atheist bus ads
Oh Lord, not the atheists again. Inspired by similar marketing efforts in London, Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, atheists in New York City are taking it to the streets with ads on MTA buses that say things like, "You don't have to believe in God to be a moral or ethical person." Which is true, and it also proves that being preachy doesn't require belief in God, either. Not sure how effective this will be in New York, anyway, since you probably need a city permit to own a flat surface that doesn't have something written, glued or stapled to it. —Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on July 2, 2009 | Permalink
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Pro-atheism ads will hit South Carolina next
Atheists are a confident bunch these days. Fresh off their shout-out from Barack Obama, the non-believers are following up high-profile pro-atheism bus campaigns in London and Washington, D.C., with an outdoor effort near Charleston, S.C. The ad, with the headline "Don't believe in God? You are not alone," is scheduled to go up this coming Monday. It's from a group called the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, working in tandem with the American Humanist Association. "This billboard is unlike any that has ever appeared in South Carolina," says Herb Silverman, one of the Secular Humanists. "We expect it to generate a mix of reactions from surprise, curiosity, and even uplift." He also surely expects, or at least hopes for, lots of outrage and ensuing publicity. And if his home state's earlier reaction to the "South Carolina is so gay" ads is any indication, he'll get it. |
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Published on January 22, 2009 | Permalink
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Atheism ads now provoking anger globally
It looks like atheist bus advertising, which we're written about a lot, is becoming a truly worldwide phenomenon. Pro-atheism ads have appeared in the U.K. and U.S. and proposed in Australia, and now they're set to pop up elsewhere: in Spain, where 94 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, and in Italy, where Jesus Christ is like McDonalds—total market saturation. They've hit a snag in Italy, though. The line "The bad news is that God does not exist; the good news is that we do not need him" met strong opposition from conservatives and was yanked by the ad agency. Giorgio Villella of the Italian Union of Atheists and Rationalist Agnostics notes that "it's strange that in a country where ads depicting near-naked women wearing skimpy lingerie [are] permitted on buses ... we can't run ads about atheism." Yeah, how about that. People would rather stare at boobs than have their belief structures questioned by a total stranger. —Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on January 21, 2009 | Permalink
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Christians making holy war on atheism ads
It took a little while, but Christians are finally mobilizing to kick some ass in response to the pro-atheism ad campaign that's been running on Washington, D.C., buses for the past several weeks. The atheism ads, from the unbelieving American Humanist Association, launched in November and ask, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake." Now, JoEllen Murphy, a McLean, Va., mother and devout Christian, is trying to raise $14,000 for a campaign of her own, featuring ads with the line, "Why believe? Because I created you and I love you, for goodness' sake. -God." On her site, IBelieveToo.org, Murphy writes: "My name is JoEllen. After a friend forwarded me an article about the AHA ad campaign, I thought, 'Enough!' I am so tired of God and religion being attacked that I decided to start a counter ad campaign." She's raised about $6,700 so far. Christians in London, meanwhile, seem to have simply turned the other cheek in response to similar pro-atheism ads on that city's buses. |
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Published on December 8, 2008 | Permalink
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U.S. getting its own atheism bus campaign
Atheists seem to have a thing for buses. We recently wrote about the bus ads in London which proclaimed, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Along these same lines, Washington, D.C., is now getting its own atheist bus campaign, headlined, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake." The advertiser is the American Humanist Association, which is putting $40,000 into the holiday campaign. An AHA rep says the group is running the ads now because "there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of non-theists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion." (Can't they just comfort themselves with some rampant consumerism?) For its part, the American Family Association was typically eloquent in denouncing the effort. "It's a stupid ad," says a rep there. |
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Published on November 13, 2008 | Permalink
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Atheists set to launch ads on London buses
British atheists have really stepped up their game recently, and have raised enough money to launch ads on London buses. The campaign, due to start in January, will be centered on the lines seen in mockup above: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Probably? Way to hedge your bets there. The posters are the work of a group called the British Humanist Association. Prominent atheist professor Richard Dawkins fans the flames by saying the ads "will make people think—and thinking is anathema to religion." Some in the religious community have taken the bait. The Methodist Church, for example, has responded with a fiery pronouncement that ... um, actually thanks the BHA for encouraging discussion of God, with one reverend quipping that the campaign "will be a good thing if it gets people to engage with the deepest questions of life." Huh. Way to make the atheists look like jerks, guys. |
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Published on October 22, 2008 | Permalink
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