WASHINGTON — Super Bowl ads get a lot of attention. People stay in the room to watch them and then talk about their favorite ones for the next few days, or in some cases even before the game is televised.
One ad during this year’s Super Bowl LVIII matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11 hopes to get people not just talking, but praying, and ultimately, subscribing to the Catholic prayer app, Hallow.
Hallow’s 30-second spot — set to air shortly before halftime in 14 major markets — will feature Catholic actors Mark Wahlberg and Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus on the television show “The Chosen.”
The ad begins with Wahlberg inviting viewers to join him in prayer, saying, “God, we take this moment just to give you thanks.”
Alex Jones, Hallow co-founder and CEO, said the timing of an advertisement encouraging prayer just days before the start of Lent Feb. 14 was a big draw.
He told The Tablet that the ad “is really just a simple invitation to pray together.” He also said the company hopes the spot “reaches out to someone who maybe hasn’t prayed in a long time.”
The commercial will be worth it, he said, if it will reach “one person like that — someone in a tough place, someone lost — and help them to begin a journey back to God.”
Wahlberg will help lead Hallow’s annual Pray40 prayer challenge that begins on Ash Wednesday,
Hallow, which launched in 2018, has a free version and a yearly subscription. It offers audio-guided prayers, sleep meditations, Bible readings, meditations, and music. It is currently the top Catholic app.
Another religious spot set to air during the Super Bowl is the “He Gets Us” campaign, which also ran ads during last year’s Super Bowl. The campaign, billed as “a movement designed to increase the respect and personal relevancy of Jesus through modern messaging,” will run two ads during this year’s game.
The campaign, sponsored by the Kansas nonprofit group Servant Foundation, is funded by donors, including David Green, co-founder of craft chain store Hobby Lobby.
That multimillion-dollar media campaign portrays Jesus as relatable to modern people, showing him as an immigrant, a refugee, and an activist against racial injustice and political corruption.
These messages reach a huge audience, but they aren’t cheap. The New York Times reports that Super Bowl 30-second ad spots this year cost $7 million.