Organisation: Churches' Advertising Network

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Reaction to the Churches' Advertising Network's latest advertising campaign revealed surprising differences between the media and the church. The advert featuring Jesus' face in beer foam on a pint glass met with a "relaxed" (The Guardian, 15/9) response from the churches themselves: "Advertising like this will always upset someone, but maybe it will reach the people other efforts cannot reach" noted a CofE spokesman in the Daily Telegraph (15/9). . "This is not so much advertising as 'subvertising', which is exactly the kind of communication that churches need to engage in" approved www.ekklesia.co.uk(15/9).

The media begged to differ. For the Times, the campaign was "in danger of falling as flat as an old pint of bitter", as it commented that "reaching out to young people through the medium of alcohol is in bad taste" (15/9). The Daily Mail also disapproved with the headline: "Anger over church advert which puts Jesus' face on beer glass", (15/9) giving a high profile to those who felt the advert would undermine anti-binge drinking campaigns. "Such humourless takes from the tabloids on fairly well-conceived ads like this are enough to turn you to dr … well, we'd best not say it" noted the Daily Star (15/9). Amen, or should that be Cheers, to that.