A Christmas advertising campaign based around a striking poster depicting the face of Jesus in a beer glass and a series of radio adverts in which young people talk about their spiritual beliefs has been unveiled by the Churches’ Advertising Network (CAN). The adverts, aimed at young people, ask the question ‘Where do you find God?’ and will use the youth forum website myspace.com to encourage discussion and debate.

The adverts have been created by top radio advertising agency, Radioville whose clients include Nationwide, Autoglass, Lexus, Carphone Warehouse and Harrods.

This year’s poster picks up on the current media preoccupation for finding images of Jesus in everything from egg yolks to currant buns. Next to an empty beer glass in which a face can be seen are the words 'Where will you find him?' and the web address 'myspace.com/isthis Jesus'. It aims to provoke thought and debate about where and how people find God. The myspace.com/sthisjesus webspace will also have links through to the Rejesus website, giving information on the Christian faith and further links through to local churches.

CAN chairman, Francis Goodwin, said: " We’re excited by this year’s campaign created by Radioville. We wanted the campaign to spark discussions about God, and we think these ads, both the posters and radio campaign will help do that. People may not talk openly about their beliefs but we hope they will discuss them on line at myspace." Commenting on the image of an empty beer glass he said, "The message is subtle but simple - where is God in all the boozing at Christmas? For many, Christmas is just drinking and partying and God is excluded. Yet many young people are interested in finding deeper meaning and exploring faith. We hope the link to myspace will offer another venue for them to discuss their feelings and debate the issues."

The CAN Christmas advertising campaign was launched today, Thursday September 14th at the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, and will be carried on a variety of media including posters, church publicity, and commercial radio stations. Churches throughout the country will be invited to sponsor advertising slots on the radio, while the radio adverts themselves will be provided free of charge, thanks to sponsorship from Jerusalem Productions, which is wholly owned by the Jerusalem Trust, a registered charity.

CAN, the Churches Advertising Network, is an independent and ecumenical group of Church communicators which for the past ten years has produced a series of striking poster and radio adverts. Past campaigns have included ‘Bad Hair Day’ and ‘Meek ; Mild, As if’ (featuring the now famous ‘Che’ image of Christ, recently on display at the V&A museum). Last year’s poster campaign, featuring a defiant looking image of the baby Jesus went on more than 2000 poster sites on railway stations and billboards around the country.

Last year’s radio campaign for CAN, also by Radioville and voiced by BBC radio presenter, Simon Mayo, was broadcast on 36 radio stations during December, including the Galaxy Network and Kiss100FM. The campaign scooped the Andrew Cross Award for best radio advert or promotion 2005.

The adverts are available on line and can be downloaded at www.churchads.org.uk

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