Christmas Ad for DNA Testing Company Satirizes Paternity of Jesus
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."
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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.
Home Paternity says they offer the same DNA testing used on daytime TV but the test is done in the privacy of your own home.
