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Product Placement in the Pews? Microtargeting Meets Megachurches

Knowledge at Wharton·@HashtagPLUS·about 1 month ago
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Haven’t been to church recently? You might have missed something. Church pastors last year had a chance to win a free trip to London and $1,000 cash — if they mentioned Disney’s film “The Chronicles of Narnia” in their sermons. Chrysler, hoping to target affluent African Americans with its new luxury SUV, is currently sponsoring a Patti LaBelle gospel music tour through African-American megachurches nationwide. Advertising has begun to seep into churches, and the phenomenon shows no signs of slowing down, say academic, religious and marketing experts. Among the wave of early adopters: the Republican Party, which successfully sold its platform to church-goers in the 2000 and 2004 elections; Hollywood, which discovered the economic power of faith when Mel Gibson’s church-marketed film “The Passion of the Christ” became a blockbuster; and publishing, with Rick Warren’s best-selling The Purpose-Driven Life , heavily marketed by a Christian publishing house.…

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