After months of self denial I couldn’t take it anymore: I had to see what the “I Am Second” billboards popping up around town were all about. Every morning I pass by one of these huge gray faces on I-75.
I’ve seen the other people in this ad campaign who look pretty cheerful. There’s one with a grinning Jason Castro that looks really happy. But no, I pass the Brian Welch (formerly in the band Korn) billboard. No smiling here. Just a deep, haunting look, staring off toward the horizon, softly whispering to passing cars: “I am second.”
I gave in and finally went to their website. It turned out to be a collection of interviews with various athletes, musicians, and average Joes, who relate their struggles through some of life’s toughest battles: stuff like drug abuse, divorce, and a laundry list of the seven deadly sins. The testimonials are face-to-face and filmed in an effective white and black contrast.
The premise was interesting and kept me reading; my suspicion that Scientology, Jesus, or Gatorade were somehow involved began to fade. Wait a sec….
Jesus it is. And for the people at iamsecond.com, he’s number one.
This gives a better look into the ads, but in a nutshell it’s a multi-million dollar marketing campaign run by a Plano-based missionary group. Their goal is to deliver Christian ideals to the mainstream in a non-threatening, non-demominational way, and they’ve gotten a list of mildly famous people (Stephen Baldwin?) to share their experiences to the masses.
The campaign does elicit some degree of my respect; its certainly a more inspired effort than some other attempts at spreading the good word. The face-to-face approach and effective design is the best sell I’ve seen any faith group make in a while.
Won’t compliment too much though. True, I’m a sucker for this cryptic slogan approach, but it’s still a deceptive way to market anything.
And when I drive to work tomorrow morning, I’ll have to deal once again with the haunting visage of Brian Welch, peering into the depths of my heart….
