On Earth as It Is in Advertising?: Moving from Commercial Hype to Gospel Hope - Softcover

Van Eman, Sam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 158743136X ISBN 13: 9781587431364

Publisher: Brazos Press, 2005

Synopsis

Reveals how advertising attempts to mimic the gospel message by wronglydefining human identity and promising to fulfill essential human needs.

About this title

About the Author:

Sam Van Eman is a resource specialist for the CCO's ExperientialDesigns team, where he co-creates transformational experiences forcollege students, professionals, and organizations. He is the author of*Disruptive Discipleship: The Power of Breaking Routine to Kickstart Your Faith* (IVP) and *On Earth as It Is in Advertising? Moving from Commercial Hype to Gospel Hope* (reprint, Wipf and Stock).

As a public speaker and facilitator, Sam has taught (andplayed) in barns and boardrooms, canyons, classrooms, and auditoriums.His years on campus resulted in numerous Christian Service awards forhis student leaders and a Greek Life brotherhood award named in hishonor.

He has contributed to PRISM Magazine, the Center forParent/Youth Understanding, Christianity Today's Faith in the Workplace, and was highlighted in the decade's best at Catapult Magazine. He lives with his wife and daughters in central Pennsylvania.

From Publishers Weekly:

In a rather simplistic meditation on the negative effects of advertising, Van Eman overstates the obvious in a short book that could have been a pamphlet for incoming college students, the target audience. Van Eman addresses the insidious messages of advertising—which he calls the "SimGospel"—in a media-saturated culture, and contrasts them to the Gospel message. He focuses on three areas in which the SimGospel and the Gospel send conflicting messages: identity (who am I?), need (what are my needs?) and care (who is my neighbor?). Thus, commercials often present selfish oafs who care only about having their needs met (e.g., a man who "needs" a bigger lawn mower than his neighbor), or who feel they are nothing without the product being advertised. In contrast, the Gospel affirms that all people are children of a loving God who desires us to love our neighbors, not denigrate them. Van Eman closes with a list of several projects that he believes counteract the SimGospel, such as to give away an old car or to volunteer in a local soup kitchen. Van Eman's book has no startling features or arguments to distinguish it from the myriad offerings already out there on this topic. (Sept.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Brazos Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 158743136X
• ISBN 13: 9781587431364
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192