you have to be kidding me
ok,.. I have to rant. I was driving to the YMCA the other day and saw two billboards for church's. One was highlighting their new series "Heroes" and the other was highlighting their new series "24". Now, putting aside the whole church marketing debate this could stir, the thing that drove me the most nuts was that these billboards completely ripped off the logos of those shows. Not close replicas, exact copies.
Another one I have seen is folks taking the Harley logo and writing something different in it to promote some event (I've seen many,... take any corporate logo or TV logo and some church has thought they would be edgy by stealing it).
It drives me nuts (I'm sure I've done it before as well... so I'm not pointing fingers, ... I'm just pleading that it would stop).
-One, it's copywrite infringement; freaking stop doing it.
-Two, it's not "edgy". It's not "relevant". It's not "connecting with the younger generation" It's freaking weak!
-Three, can church's please be creative. I'm not saying spend tons of money on ad campaigns (please, love the poor and know your neighbor first).... but if you want to design graphics/images, go buy photoshop elements ($70) and an old computer ($300) and be creative. God didn't give you that brain and desire to create art simply to rip someone else off (I’m not saying don’t be inspired by others work, I’m saying don’t copy/steal)
Oh yea, and to again remind any church folks reading this, remember #2, ... non-church folks find it very very silly; it's not “relevant” or whatever other buzz word you want to attach to it.
I'll close with a comment I read on another blog that is stated much nicer that I (sorry for the vomit on the post here,... I'm in a mood and thought I would let it out in this forum).
"Would the church of God please rise up and be original? We've been blessed with creativity, so let's use it to come up with something that can stand on its own, rather than make sorrowful copies of corporate imagery."
posted by Keith W at 10:29 PM
7 Comments:
Amen Brother. Wanna start a church?
9:51 PM
YES!!!! you pick the city & I'm there. miss you a ton brother.
9:21 AM
I agree, sometimes I wonder that in our desire to have "culturally relevant churches" that we haven't confused the salt shaker with the sugar bowl!
This morning at church I had a discussion with a member about digital rights management in Windows Vista. I told him I thought it was a good idea; having friends in the music & movie industries I see copying media for friends as "stealing" from the artists...I'm afraid my words may have fallen on deaf ears...
- Tight lines.
10:41 PM
Is your problem that churches are:
a. Stealing and thus not leveraging our creative nature.
b. Stealing lame stuff that makes us feel edgy but doesn't speak truth to darkness.
c. Stealing in general.
Just curious.
--ryan
9:48 PM
well,... I really wouldn't call it a problem; more of an annoyance. While all 3 points you mentioned do in someways articualte this annouyance; it would be your second reason (b) to a degree that probably pegs it best (I'm not really sure as this is an anoyance, not a well thought out lettter to the church though). The difference is that I actually would call the corporate artwork very good (usually) so it not "lame stuff".... and I'm not saying I would even completly rule out leveraging an existing image/logo/whatever to make a point every once in a while (just ensure it's not copywright infringement like these 2 church's in my area cleary did); but I see it used all the time and I really call the general practice lame (be freeking creative on your own). I personally think (I have done no consumer research on this) that any non-christian (heck even me) chuckles when they past church signs with stupid sayings and laugh at billborads that take (for example heros or 24) logos and pass them off as series titles. Heck the entire church marketing using mass media thing is weird to me to a lot of extent.... I just see grass roots marketing (fancy term for relationships) being the backbone of the gospel, not ripping off someone's logo and hoping that will drive people in.
OK, wow, I am really rambling now.... I really need to go to bed.
10:18 PM
I second that motion! As someone hyper-aware of both copyright and originality issues in both my businesses, this has really saddened me in the last 6 months. And both those instances have irritated me too! GOOD discussion to start rolling...
10:45 AM
YES!!! In the 70's, Frankie Schaeffer said it well in Addicted to Mediocrity, and it is obviously still relevant today.
8:06 PM
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