I’m not sure if you caught this advertisement on page 9 of the Catholic News this past weekend, so I’m highlighting it to you. It’s an advertisement for the upcoming diocesan vocation retreat in May.
I didn’t see this advertisement. I totally missed it until Tabitubby highlighted it to me. She said it’s a terrible advertisement. I took a look at it and I agreed. You know an advertisement is lousy if it doesn’t leave an impression on the viewer.
First, the choice of colours is very bad. It’s so grey and dark that it’s not attractive at all. It doesn’t catch people’s attention… and advertisements are supposed to catch people’s attention. You don’t waste good money to advertise something that turns people off. The choice of using white text on a grey background also makes it hard to read. It’s a poorly designed advertisement.
There’s a saying “Put your money where your mouth is.” If the diocese doesn’t put its money where its mouth is – paying good graphic designers to design good advertisements – then all its talk about promoting vocations is just talk. At least that’s the negative publicity this kind of advertisement does for this cause.
It wasn’t always this way. Do you remember the advertisement of two hands holding up two glasses? One was a glass of wine; the other hand was holding a chalice. I can’t remember the tagline… something about living a life or something like that. But the message was clear: you can choose to serve yourself or serve God. That was a good advertisement and it has left a lasting impression on me.
Second, what is this advertisement trying to say? What’s “Powerful Weakness”? What is the quote from 2 Corinthians saying? Is it saying that priests are weak people and God will provide whatever it is that they are lacking? Is it saying that the diocese is looking for weak people to become priests because God can work through them this way?
Yeah, right. Get someone who is morally weak and send him to the seminary and see him get turned away. Get someone whose health is weak and send him to the seminary, and also see him get turned away.
What is the advertisement really trying to say? Whatever it is, it’s not saying it clearly. In other words, it’s not effective communication if the recipient can’t get the message. What it is saying is that the diocese vocation team needs to work harder on its communication skills.
Filed under: Media Literacy
Hi Catholic Writer,
I think for a non-Catholic person, he/she may not be able to graspe the representations in the ad and the words.
I think I see clouds that will bring rain to the wheat (is it wheat?) to give it nutrition to grow. One day the fruitful wheat will be harvested that will become bring forth the Bread of Life.
Maybe I’m wrong? Just my 2cebts worth.
Hi ordinary guy,
I don’t think so. I think the focus are the storm clouds, hence the “powerful”, but other than that, and the presence of some wheat, I can’t tell what the message is supposed to be.
God bless,
Catholic Writer
Dear Daniel,
I’ve got a couple of comments on this particular blogpost. I’ve to say that in general, I disagree with what you put across.
Firstly, the poster may have been weak advertising to you, and certainly, I’m not about to question your considerable experience given how long you’ve been in this field. Yet, I cannot help but to think, what are the criteria and standards upon which you are basing your judgment on? The common understanding for advertising is that it has to be eye-catching, it has to appeal to the masses, it has to fit into the consumerist culture that so pervades our society in this day and age. Hence, the bolder and the more colourful (in some cases, more controversial also) an advertisement is, the better it is. Judged against these standards, we can certainly argue that this advertisement is quite a failure. Especially when we compare with say, a McDonald’s advertisement. Loud, colourful, catchy tunes, all the ingredients of a successful advert.
However, let us not forget that this advertisement is not necessarily catered to the mass audience. I doubt very much that the Church is into the business of selling mass-produced goods, we are not McDonalds. Especially on this particular topic of vocations, I would say that this is a very serious matter, no? This is not something that you want someone to pick and say, “hey! this looks really exciting and fun! let’s go for it!” without giving much thought to the matter. Rather, I think this advert is aimed at a more serious and specific audience. And for that audience, I would think that the advert succeeds in provoking a thoughtful response. I guess all I’m saying is, let’s not be too hasty to judge this advert solely based on the measures of our “fast-food” society.
Secondly, I personally thought the message of the advert was clear. For someone who has been struggling in trying to grow my spiritual life and in trying to serve God in ministry work, I’ve so often lapsed into a kind of darkness, not knowing what it is in particular I was supposed to do, nor to what ends my efforts were leading to. Very often, I’ve wanted to say, God, pick someone else. And yet, it was precisely at those moments, when affirmation would come, that at the end of the day, I was but a mere instrument of God, one that was utterly weak and imperfect. The message in this advert thus really speaks out to me, as if it were a kind of assurance that ultimately, we are but God’s creatures and from Him, we draw all strength.
Seen in this light, the theme of this year’s retreat and the message of this advert were borne out rather clearly. Its a shout out to that specific group of people who are already considering vocations or have started to ask those questions, and yet, are worried so much about their weaknesses, and obsessed so much over it, that it obscures their call. The message then becomes simply one of assurance and of invitation. It invites all those who are struggling in their discernment to go to the retreat, to give themselves up to God’s grace, which is always and everywhere sufficient and abundant.
Finally, I really didn’t appreciate your use of sarcasm and hyperbole (if indeed there was sarcasm, hard to tell in a typed entry), if anything, because I’m sure there ARE priests who at one stage or another of their have struggled in their personal lives (they are after all, only human) and also who have suffered or are suffering with certain physical ailments, yet manfully continue their ministry. I thought the comments were a little insensitive, in particular coming from a prominent writer of The Catholic News like yourself; in particular on a week whereby the Church is making an impassioned call for vocations. Wouldn’t an effort to speak to the designers/creators of the advert to clarify its meaning and then to carry that message across to the diocese be more constructive?
Hi Justin,
Sorry for the late response. I’ve been away from my blog for some weeks.
You make a good point. The advertisement certainly does have a certain target audience, perhaps a more serious and specific audience. The question I have there then is: do vocations only come from such people?
There was no sarcasm intended in my post. I try not to be sarcastic because I think people who like to be sarcastic are also people who think that they are very smart, or more appropriately, think that they are smarter than other people. The part about being turned away at the seminary doors actually comes from experiences of friends who have shared their vocation journeys with me, and my own personal journey which I won’t share here.
A number of friends of mine who have felt a calling to the priesthood often get disappointed that the seminary does not want to accept them for one reason or another. Because my own personal journey has led me through that, I can understand the pain and anger they feel, and I try to do my best to help them out in this difficult part.
It is true that I’m a writer of the Catholic News, but I try not to bring that into my personal blog and vice versa, and would ask you to please respect that as well. Incidentally, it was actually a diocesan priest who first pointed out to me that the advert is weak advertising and why. I listed most of those reasons in my post. This priest has indeed spoken to the relevant people about it several times regarding their past advertisements. But do they listen and do something about it?
My bone to pick about the promotion of vocations in our archdiocese is that the archdiocese seems to be trying very hard to sell the idea of diocesan priesthood to young men and, like a prospective employer, tries to ‘recruit’ people to become priests. They are very interested in people who are exploring the diocesan priesthood, but once a young man finds that he is not called to the diocesan priesthood, they are conveniently forgotten. What happens to their vocation journey then? We are left hanging and often very hurt and angry with the Church because of this. Not a few young men, despite their foundation, have left the Church because of this anger. I too once left the Church because of this very reason, but I’ve since come back, even though I haven’t experienced total closure yet. Some have not returned and continue to remain angry with the Church because of this.
What is the diocesan vocation promotion team doing about this? I assure you – nothing. Why? Because these young men no longer qualify for diocesan priesthood, and are no longer of any interest to those promoting vocations – not just vocations, but vocations to the diocesan priesthood in particular. Other vocations – also callings from God – are not of any interest to them. Think about the many young men who have gone for the diocesan vocation retreats. There are about 30-50 each year. Have these produced any vocations so far? Perhaps some. But what happens to all the rest who have been preparing to join the seminary, but suddenly discern that God is not calling them to priesthood? Does the diocesan vocation promotion team try to help them continue their vocation journey, to address their disappointments and hurt and anger?
I’ve brought this matter up to the diocesan vocation promotions team before, but their response was that they don’t have the resources to address this issue, and their interest is only in those called to the diocesan priesthood. I’ve also brought this matter up with the rector of the seminary before and, thankfully, he recognises this problem. But he also recognises that the seminary is the last place that these ‘rejected’ young men want to find help from. Most of the time, it is the seminary and the people in charge that they are most angry with.
I guess if you read this comment, you can probably still feel some of the underlying anger that continues inside me.
God bless,
Catholic Writer