Advertising for good

I don't actually want to see fewer ads. There, I said it. Fewer ads for $90 heavyweight tees I don't need and coffee gear I'm trying not to buy? Absolutely. But fewer ads from ministries doing real work in the world? No. I want more of those. A lot more.

I understand why that sentence makes people flinch, because advertising has a reputation, and parts of it are well earned. Modern targeting doesn't stop at age and zip code. It can profile values, emotional states, and personality, and the industry's track record with that power includes serving fear-based messages to the people most prone to fear. There was a season when a platform could predict your personality from your likes more accurately than your spouse could. That's the machinery we're talking about, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest.

The same tools, a different goal

So here's the tension for those of us in Christian work: I want more people to know about the mission I serve. I want more people to care, to act, to give, and I believe to my bones that's a good thing. The resolution isn't to abandon the channels. It's to use them differently. I'm not trying to convince anyone to buy something they don't need. I'm trying to help people discover something they already believe in, people who care about what we care about and simply haven't found us yet.

Done with integrity, advertising isn't manipulation. It's alignment.

That's advertising for good: putting your message next to the things people already love, building familiarity and trust over time, and letting the brand grow until giving feels like the natural next step rather than a response to pressure. Same channels. Same craft. Different goal.

And the uncomfortable truth underneath it all: the feed doesn't have empty slots. If we don't show up there, someone else will, selling something smaller. I'd rather the next scroll hold a story about a child meeting Jesus than another t-shirt ad. Wouldn't you?