An Ohio DNA testing company called Home Paternity “launched its first ever advertising campaign last month wrapped in a story satirizing the paternity of Jesus. But not everyone thinks it’s funny.” The company certainly did.
David Littlejohn, Humanaut’s chief creative officer, told Adweek that they were pushing for “a holiday campaign that religious and nonreligious people could laugh at and appreciate.”
Littlejohn also said the reason why “he decided to tackle the story of the holy couple was because he wanted to do something different,” something Humanaut has had plenty of experience with. Its campaigns have included “cats with conspiracy theories about poop. Bros who drink organic protein shakes. Cartoon office workers battling hangovers.”
Many Christians will not find Littlejohn’s “creativity” funny with respect to the Holy Family and Jesus. But it is a Christian’s right not to be amused, as it is Littlejohn’s right to be offensive.
In an interview, Littlejohn also stated that “It’s so noisy out there” that in order to be successful, you “really need to be able to say things that are provocative or things that are not necessarily just going to be accepted by everyone.” One wonders, however, if Littlejohn, in his desire “to do something different” and be “provocative,” will ever consider practicing his satirical “creativity” on revered characters in Islam. Chances are that he will not, because he’ll fear getting murdered for it, and being remembered as the creative Home Paternity “Islamophobe.”
Christianity remains the peaceful, all-time safe target of fun, even mockery and derision, while its adherents are massacred by jihadists in Islamic states. Meanwhile, Western populations are increasingly subjugated under the strictures of Islamic blasphemy rules. In accordance with these rules, satirizing the paternity of Jesus was Littlejohn’s safe ground.
“Christmas Ad for DNA Testing Company Satirizes Paternity of Jesus”, by Leonardo Blair, Christian Post, January 8, 2018:
Ohio DNA testing company Home Paternity launched its first ever advertising campaign last month wrapped in a story satirizing the paternity of Jesus. But not everyone thinks it’s funny.
A nearly 4-minute long-form ad created by Tennessee agency Humanaut places biblical characters Mary and Joseph on a talk show called “Who’s Your Daddy,” mimicking the popular paternity testing “Maury” show.
David Littlejohn, Humanaut’s chief creative officer, told Adweek that they were pushing for “a holiday campaign that religious and nonreligious people could laugh at and appreciate.”
He also told Campaign Us that the reason he decided to tackle the story of the holy couple was because he wanted to do something different.
“Knowing so many brands are trying to make sweet, earnest holiday videos, we just knew this was the opportunity to do something very different that would get traction,” Littlejohn said. “We batted around a few other concepts, but at the end of the day, there was only this idea.”
In an op-ed for Forbes, Christian critic Paul Jankowski said he felt the video’s message was divisive.
“Maybe I’m oversensitive to this ad because of my faith or maybe, as a marketer, I don’t see the value in the risk. Either way, I’m confident there are other and less divisive ways to promote this product. The last thing we need is more divisiveness. Amen?” he wrote. “This is a miss by a really smart, award-winning agency who brought us Save the Bros, a tongue-in-cheek campaign for Organic Valley protein shakes that earned over 100 million PR impressions.”
Despite the concern raised by Jankowski, the ad manages to accurately reflect the controversy surrounding Jesus’ conception after Joseph discovered his virgin wife was pregnant.
Joseph had planned to secretly divorce Mary to avoid exposing her to public shame but he explains in the ad how he changed his mind after an angel appeared to him and told him that she had immaculately conceived.
Before the DNA result is announced on the show, the host asked the actor playing Joseph, “What changes if you are the father?”
“Wow, that would be really confusing but a lot would change. The entire course of human history. The true meaning of Christmas. There would probably be a lot less of those fish bumper stickers on people’s cars. There is a lot riding on this,” he said.
When Joseph is found not to be the father of baby Jesus, he breathes a sigh of relief and chest-bumps God who is presented as a cloud.
MFritz says
“Laughing with islam!” … never going to happen.
b.a. freeman says
U are correct, MFritz; IIRC, one of the ayatollahs in iran said that there is no humor or fun in islam. i’ll have to find that quote again …
StellaSaidSo says
It was Ayatollah Khomeini (‘not a very funny man’ – Douglas Murray) who said there was no humour or fun in Islam. There certainly wasn’t in Iran after 1979.
MFritz says
A wise man once said that all horrific dictatorships hate the laughter of children.
Robert says
That satire will spell destruction for their research. Those that play with snakes will eventually get bitten…
gravenimage says
Oh, I doubt it. Christians are not going to threaten them. DNA testing in an of itself is not a bad thing–it is just this ad that is witless and offensive.
PPP1 says
well, its satire but not blasphemous in any way and I as a devout Christian could have laughed at the ad as its biblically sound…they did not make fun of God, the Holy Spirit or Jesus…there has been far worse from satirical movies
gravenimage says
I’m sure there were other Christians who found it funny, as well. Christians can take a joke–Muslims, not so much.
The main point is that they never would have tried this with Islam.
boakai ngombu says
the slaves (muslims) of the allah god of islam (unknowable; the best of all deceivers) might have said it is a useless effort to trace the paternity of Issa..
… Issa had no father. He was created (Q3:47) and (Q3: 59). Issa was not the son of the allah god
the Biblical record in the Gospels, of course, would, by the slaves, be dismissed as falsity.
gravenimage says
Yes–the Muslim story of “Jesus” is not only ugly, it makes absolutely no sense.
Prebanian says
“Before the DNA result is announced on the show, the host asked the actor playing Joseph, “What changes if you are the father?” An Islamic colleague told me that if I were to stand on a street corner in Cairo and suggest aloud that Jesus’ birth was not immaculat, a Muslim would kill me immediately. So I guess Littlejohn picked the right belief to mock. Christianity has tolerance, a sense of humor, freedom of speech and dialectical debate — all these are missing in the Islamic ideology.
WorkingClassPost says
That provokes another point:-
If Jesus is so foundational to islam, like we’re always being told, then why aren’t muslims up in arms over this satirization of one of their ‘revered’ prophets in the way that they would be over mohammy mockery?
Could this be confirmation that Jesus has got nothing to do with islam…
gravenimage says
Now *that* is a good question.
But of course the idea that “Jesus”–really, “Isa”–is important to Islam is only heard when Muslims are practicing Taqiyya on Christians and other Westerners. Otherwise, “Isa” is rarely mentioned.
Shmoovie says
Islamic groups wouldn’t be the only ones enraged by a mock-up of tales from the koran. They’d have plenty of ignorant virtue-signalling support demanding contrition and Littlejohn’s corporate head on a platter; plus attention from MSM, SPLC etc and the associated nightmares.
Imitating a thing like “Maury” isn’t edgy or progressive, it’s just simple and safe.
gravenimage says
Yup–also true.
mike9a says
Provocative!?: The depth of stupidity that people can reach is seemingly unfathomable at times.
Shmoovie says
B Affleck doesn’t want a pesky fatwa interfering with his career as celebrity/political expert.
Neil Jennison says
Mary did not immaculately conceive. The immaculate conception refers to the St. Anne conceiving Mary without stain of original sin.
Neil Jennison says
Sorry, the POINT of my post above is to demonstrate that the advert’s creator is ignorant as well as offensive.
gravenimage says
Technically true in Catholicism, Neil. But everyone knows what this was a reference to.
R Russell says
So sad they have nothing better to do with their time.
Now the genuine Jesus that we know about in the Bible, He invites people to get to know him in the spiritual realm. The satirists still have that option. I don’t know how long that option will last.
Tjhawk says
He wants to do something different. FAIL. Comedians and everyday people have been mocking and ridiculing and taking on Christianity and Jesus in multitudes for at least 50 years. Nothing different about it.
He wants to do something provocative. FAIL. Once again, it’s probably been at least 50 years since lambasting Jesus has been considered provocative.
I happen to really enjoy the “ Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life” from Monty Python’s “The Life of Brian”. YouTube it.
I consider myself a cultural Judeo/Christian. About the time I gave up on Santa, I started to give up on being a literal Christian. I remember being a snarky teen thinking “The Life of Brian” was extremely cool. I don’t recall any wailing and gnashing of teeth in the church I was forced to attend. ( I was getting into a fair amount of trouble, so my parents thought I could learn a little something in church.). They were right.
The Christians I was around maintained a remarkable degree of equanimity when their core beliefs were being made light of by Monty Python. They always had love and acceptance for me even though I was an insufferable skeptic. There is nothing quite like a 14 year old who knows ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING about the world.
Even though i’m still a skeptic, I have great respect for the life and teachings of Jesus, and I no longer openly mock things like virgin birth and resurrection from the dead.
I have no such respect for the life and teachings of mohammed and I think islam deserves to be openly mocked. I am so thankful that I wasn’t born in dar al islam. I don’t think a kid like me could have survived to become the older man I am today if I had been.
gravenimage says
Good post.
gravenimage says
In an interview, Littlejohn also stated that “It’s so noisy out there” that in order to be successful, you “really need to be able to say things that are provocative or things that are not necessarily just going to be accepted by everyone.” One wonders, however, if Littlejohn, in his desire “to do something different” and be “provocative,” will ever consider practicing his satirical “creativity” on revered characters in Islam. Chances are that he will not, because he’ll fear getting murdered for it, and being remembered as the creative Home Paternity “Islamophobe.”
…………………………………….
How many times has *this* happened? The Monty Python crew, South Park, these twits–you can make fun of Christianity, and the most you will get are a handful of irate letters. And you can characterize those letter writers as people who can’t take a joke…
But making fun of Islam is a whole different matter–and so most will not touch it…
Tjhawk says
Yes, making fun of islam would be edgy. Like the edge of the dull knife they’re sawing through your windpipe with.
eduardo odraude says
I just watched the ad. I would say this is not a case where a company is pretending to be brave satirizing Christianity. The add could be taken as offensive but in the end it seems at least half-seriously to affirm the biblical account of Jesus’ birth: Joseph chest-bumps with God because the DNA test done by the company proves that Joseph really was telling the truth when he claimed he was not the father of Jesus. The DNA test also proves that God was Jesus’ father. So this could be interpreted as an almost pro-Christian ad for DNA testing.
Still, it is annoying that virtually all companies and news media and artists are too cowardly and conformist to make even good-natured jokes about Muhammad and Islam, and yet some of those same companies, journalists, and artists pretend it is brave when they ridicule the views of Christians, who in fact present no threat and will not murder you for your jokes about Christ or Christianity.
Occasionally, comedy involving Christianity seems to have as one subtext the sense that Christ is a loving being who loves to laugh with us at what is funny, even at playful jokes about Christianity itself.
eduardo odraude says
I’ll add that I do believe that God and Christ have a sense of humor and love to laugh with us.
gravenimage says
I can certainly see that some Christians would find this amusing.
And there is a lot of Christian humor.
The main thing is that no one would have tried this with Islam. Many also don’t much care if Christians *are* offended, because they know that they will get no more than a few irate letters.
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
Let Home Paternity know what YOU think of the ad:
Comment Page:
https://homepaternity.com/contact/
or:
Email:
customerservice@homepaternity.com
or:
Mailing Address:
1 DDC Way
Fairfield, OH 45014
eduardo odraude says
Here is the ad. Watch it to the end and see if you think it is very offensive. I thought the conclusion was almost pro-Christian, or suggested at least the possibility that Christ is indeed the Son of God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57QRAxURK44
gravenimage says
After hearing the concept–no pun intended–the rest was pretty predictable.
Wellington says
As with South Park, Christianity is fair game but Islam is not. Either both should be or neither. To in any way mock Christianity without at the same time mocking Islam is most assuredly evidence of a double standard—-cowardice too. This is why I stopped watching South Park. May I suggest a similar boycott of this company.
mach37 says
Religious holidays in general should be off-limits as the target of humorists, especially humorists who are not members of the group celebrating the holiday. Simple respect for others should prevail when it comes to making fun of anyone, or their serious beliefs.
On the other hand, religions can be the target of criticism, but criticism is essentially the opposite of humor. You can call me names, just don’t laugh at me.
Ray Jarman says
It seems that you missed the point of the article which is that Littlejohn thinks that it is ok to make fun of Christianity because we do not respond by violence whereas the cult does as has been pointed out by what happened to the cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo. Also Salman Rushdie has a hit put on his life by the Ayatollah. At the time of the fatwa I was discussing it with a friend who thought that Rushdie was wrong to write a book that mocked muhammad. Look what happened to a film maker when he made a video about a pedophile raping a nine year old girl; he was used by a Secretary of State to accept her responsibility for the Bengasi massacre and he went to jail. The article is to simply highlight the hypocrisy of the left.
gravenimage says
This was pretty stupid and certainly offensive to many, but no–this should not be banned. That kind of censorship is what Islam does.
Edge of Darkness says
‘Some prophets have followers with a sense of humour’, complains Mo to his psychiatrist.
All religions should be mocked, because it’s all Bollux, but with special, particular emphasis on the most violent doctrine on the planet-Islam,
Kepha says
Lord, have mercy!
Uncle Kepha’s inner Diogenes (God forgive me) wonders if maybe we Christians would get a lot more respect from the Left if we trashed Littlejohn’s corporate headquarters, tarred and feathered their director of advertising. I know I shouldn’t think this, but, hey, isn’t pointing out a religious hypocrite one of the progressives’ favorite sports? Will they thank me for adding grist to their mills? If they tell me I’m being un-Christian, I’ll tell them they ought to honor me for getting with their program. SARC
CRUSADER says
It’s a little like that fantasy about Holy Grail / Holy Blood….
Farce.
And really Faithless.
Silly egoistic drive to see if we are royal blood, etc….
It wasn’t about being Royal, but about the regal nature of the Spirit!