"I am a Morman"

[Erdosain]

@Justin_Bailey

This ad campaign actually began over a year and a half ago. The Mormon church has been slowly rolling it out across the country since. So while I suppose it’s possible that they decided to help out Mitt Romney starting in mid-2010, the more likely explanation is proselytizing.

Romney ran for the Republican nomination in 2008 and has been a candidate for 2012 since 2009.

The Mormon Church always craves good PR, but to say this is a coincidence strains credulity. They knew from Huckabee’s Mormon-baiting in 2008 that a Mormon running for President whips up a lot of negative attention.

If Romney dropped out of the race tomorrow, they’d still run the ads regardless, but it sure isn’t a coincidence.

[iamthewalrus_3]

@ENugent

I am Morwoman. Hear me roar.

I believe the preferred term is “Mormaid”.

[Rhiannon8404]

I’ve seen commercials for the Church of Latter Day Saints for years and year. I haven’t seen any of these “I’m a Mormon” ads though. I’ve also seen ads for the Methodist Church.

[Rhodes]

I love the exmormon reply to this ad campaign: http://iamanexmormon.com

[Justin_Bailey]

@Erdosain

If Romney dropped out of the race tomorrow, they’d still run the ads regardless, but it sure isn’t a coincidence.

Sure it is. Allow me to reiterate what Rhiannon8404 said: I’ve seen commercials for the Church of Latter Day Saints for years and years. This is not new and Mormon commercials on TV predate Romney’s election as governor of Mass. All that’s new is the “I’m A Mormon” campaign.

[The_Second_Stone]

I think they want acceptance like most people. Most Mormons I know I like. Despite the fact that I truly dislike Orrin Hatch’s politics and political insincerity, I’m pretty sure that he’d be an okay guy to talk to about sports, nature, weather, etc.

[VinylTurnip]

@SerenaPerido

It may interest you to know that this ad campaign is going on here in Australia, and there’s no election here. There’s billboards with really cute looking Mormons all over the place.

One near me even has a black female Mormon on it. When did they get one of those?

[wonky]

I don’t think it’s directly related to Romney. I think it’s directly related to the backlash they felt after the Prop 8 vote in CA where a lot of people felt like the Mormons came into California and were pushing a hate message. The church apparently was surprised at how vehement some of the pushback was and national polling after that showed a significant dip in people’s impressions of Mormonism. I read a few articles about this a few weeks ago.

[wonky]

[

Top Mormon leaders had hired two big-name advertising agencies in 2009, Ogilvy & Mather and Hall & Partners, to find out what Americans think of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Using focus groups and surveys, they found that Americans who had any opinion at all used adjectives that were downright negative: “secretive,” “cultish,” “sexist,” “controlling,” “pushy,” “anti-gay.”

On seeing these results, some of those watching the presentation booed while others laughed, according to people at the meetings. But then they were told that the church was ready with a response: a multimillion-dollar television, billboard and Internet advertising campaign that uses the tagline, “I’m a Mormon.”

](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/us/mormon-ad-campaign-seeks-to-improve-perceptions.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/P/Political%20Advertising?ref=politicaladvertising)

This is one of the articles i was talking about.

[Justin_Bailey]

@VinylTurnip

One near me even has a black female Mormon on it. When did they get one of those?

If you look close, nearly every commercial that shows a couple or family features an inter-racial relationship.

[Ludovic]

I don’t see why they should be seen as anti-gay. They are simply adhering to an inviolate religious proscription, and as such it should not be subject to trendy political correctness. What’s right is right and nothing can change God’s law. After all, if we allow gay marriage, pretty soon we’d have people pushing for polygamy and underage marriage. And the Mormon church has always had a similarly inflexible attitude banning those types of marriage as well. Becuse God’s law is unchangeable, and cannot be bent by modern politically correct attitudes.

[The_Second_Stone]

@Ludovic

I don’t see why they should be seen as anti-gay. They are simply adhering to an inviolate religious proscription, and as such it should not be subject to trendy political correctness. What’s right is right and nothing can change God’s law. After all, if we allow gay marriage, pretty soon we’d have people pushing for polygamy and underage marriage. And the Mormon church has always had a similarly inflexible attitude banning those types of marriage as well. Becuse God’s law is unchangeable, and cannot be bent by modern politically correct attitudes.

They support an anti-gay rights agenda politically.

[wonky]

@The_Second_Stone

They support an anti-gay rights agenda politically.

I saw the whoosh coming, but I was helpless to warn anyone.

[merrygentleman]

Julia Sweeney has a hilarious story of two Mormon missionary boys coming into her home.

Julia Sweeney on Mormons

[Acsenray]

I’ve been seeing L.D.S. ads on TV since I was a kid. They’ve been image-savvy for some time now.

[YogSothoth]

@jsgoddess

I don’t think it’s directly related to Romney. I think it’s directly related to the backlash they felt after the Prop 8 vote in CA where a lot of people felt like the Mormons came into California and were pushing a hate message. The church apparently was surprised at how vehement some of the pushback was and national polling after that showed a significant dip in people’s impressions of Mormonism. I read a few articles about this a few weeks ago.

Good. I hope they do get that a lot of the hate is from that, because what they did and the amount of extra effort they used in that campaign was disgusting. I hate Mormons more precisely because of that. Maybe in the future they can run another ad campaign that says that they are a Mormon and support equal marriage rights for all

@Ludovic

I don’t see why they should be seen as anti-gay. They are simply adhering to an inviolate religious proscription, and as such it should not be subject to trendy political correctness. What’s right is right and nothing can change God’s law. After all, if we allow gay marriage, pretty soon we’d have people pushing for polygamy and underage marriage. And the Mormon church has always had a similarly inflexible attitude banning those types of marriage as well. Becuse God’s law is unchangeable, and cannot be bent by modern politically correct attitudes.

Its the extra effort they put into it, the funding they provided, and the fact that virtually all Christians are slowly becoming more and more tolerant of gays. If other Christians can see it, so should they

[Ludovic]

@YogSosoth

Its the extra effort they put into it, the funding they provided, and the fact that virtually all Christians are slowly becoming more and more tolerant of gays. If other Christians can see it, so should they

If everyone jumped off a cliff, would that make it a good idea? If everyone suddenly supported polygamy, would it be hypocritical of the Catholic Church to suddenly reach for social acceptance by “discovering” support for it?

Because if you claim that anti-gay measures are rooted in millenia of sound Biblical law, but then do not apply that same unchanging consistent stance toward polygamy, then you’d sound pretty hypocritical.

[Inigo_Montoya]

@SerenaPerido

It may interest you to know that this ad campaign is going on here in Australia…

Ah, Australia. The Kangaroo State. Wonder why more of our presidential candidates don’t come from there. Or the Maple Leaf State, for thatmatter.

[Acsenray]

@The_Second_Stone

I think they want acceptance like most people. Most Mormons I know I like. Despite the fact that I truly dislike Orrin Hatch’s politics and political insincerity, I’m pretty sure that he’d be an okay guy to talk to about sports, nature, weather, etc.

I’ve been in an isolated stairwell with Orrin Hatch and from the look on his face I got the impression that the only subjects he’d be interested in talking about were hellfire and people being burned in it.

[YogSothoth]

@Ludovic

If everyone jumped off a cliff, would that make it a good idea? If everyone suddenly supported polygamy, would it be hypocritical of the Catholic Church to suddenly reach for social acceptance by “discovering” support for it?

You know what? Yes, it would be a good idea. Because it would mean that you’re the only person who doesn’t see the flaming Godzilla-type monster chasing everyone off that bridge.

If everyone’s supporting a social cause, absent some reason other than the words of a 2 thousand year old book with suspect authors, then you should support it too. All the other religions are starting to see the hatred inherent in forcing gays to live like second-class citizens, and the Mormons should as well and go along with other Christians, if they are in fact Christians like they keep telling people.

If, in the future, polygamy received widespread support, then I would have to personally question my beliefs too, because that many people supporting it could mean that there is a compelling reason that I am not seeing or refusing to see

@Ludovic

Because if you claim that anti-gay measures are rooted in millenia of sound Biblical law, but then do not apply that same unchanging consistent stance toward polygamy, then you’d sound pretty hypocritical.

Its not hypocritical, people smartened up. Maybe in the future, gays will evolve into some kind of super gays. Then who would look like the backwards dinosaur? Certainly not me, cause I’ll be super gay!