06190
March 28, 2006

Networks (r)eject UCC ad,
calling it ‘too controversial’

ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox are skittish
about references to race, homosexuality

by Kevin Eckstrom
Religion News Service

        A new television ad emphasizing the diversity and inclusiveness of the United Church of Christ has been rejected by several major TV networks as “too controversial.”

        This is the second time a UCC spot has been banned from the airwaves.

        The new 30-second ad, called “Ejector,” shows several people — a black woman, a gay couple, a Middle Eastern man, an elderly man in a walker — being ejected from their church pews, as from the cockpit of a jet.

        “God doesn’t reject people,” a narrator says. “Neither do we.”

        The new ad, which cost about $1.5 million to make, will debut on April 3 — but not on ABC, NBC, CBS or Fox. Those networks rejected the commercial as an inappropriate “advocacy” spot because of its references to homosexuality, race and ethnicity.

        Last year, the networks rejected a similar ad featuring bouncers behind a velvet rope keeping various people out of a church.

        “The message of the commercial is simple,” the Rev. John Thomas, the UCC’s general minister and president, said on Monday (March 27). “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here at the United Church of Christ.”

        Thomas said he found it “odd and bewildering” that the ads were rejected. The UCC has launched a new Web site, www.accessibleairwaves.org, to prod the networks to include mainstream religious voices. To see the UCC ads, including "Ejector," visit http://www.stillspeaking.com/resources/indexvis.html

        The “Ejector” ad will be shown for at least three weeks; the UCC hopes to extend its run through Mother’s Day (May 14). It has been accepted on a dozen cable networks, including CNN, the Discovery Channel and A&E.

        Ron Buford, who directs the UCC’s “God is Still Speaking” campaign, said the 1.3 million-member church was not trying to take a swipe at other churches by billing itself as more welcoming and diverse.