The Secularization of Religion and Television Commercials

Author(s): Brendan Maguire and Georgie Ann Weatherby

Source: Sociology of Religion, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Summer, 1998), pp. 171-178
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3712079 .
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 1998,59:2 171-178
ofReligion
Soaology

The SecularizationofReligionand
TelevisionCommercials

Maguire*
Brendan
WesSrn Illinois Universm

AnnWeaierby
Georgie
Vruversin
Gonzaga

theory
Secularization status
hada pqivileged withinsociology formany Recently,
decades. this
hasbeenchallenged
theory ona number ofgrounds. Specifically, haveargued
researchers thatreligion
isnotonthewaneinmodem butthatitisanincreastngly
society, central of
feature
andinfluential
sociallife.H,
contemporary is a debate
there thesociology
within concerning
ofreligion the
theory.
ofsecularization
wEability from
Findings project,
thepresent a content of797felevi-
analysis
showthat
sioncommercisls syrrbolism
religious is featured
rarely by television Only1f
advertisers.
outof797commercialscontained orspiritual
religious content. inthepaper,
Asdiscussed firing
this
invarious
canbeinterpreted wayswith regard theory.
status ofsecularization
tothepresent

symbolism
usereligious
advertisers
Dotelevision andservices?
to sellgoods
Ananswer question
to this because
isimportant itisrelevanttothecontinuing
debateaboutthestatus inmodern
ofreligion American society. analyS
Content
offers
sisof797commercials answer
a partial to thequestion, consid-
butbefore
eringtheresearch some
findings, groundwork
theoretical isnecessary.
THEORY
SECULARlZATION
theory
Secularization isas important (e.g.,Roberts
as itiscontroversial
1995: Yamane
337-359; thetheory
1997).Ingeneral, holds science,
that ration-
institutional
ality, and
differentiation, technologicalprogresscombine to
theinfluence
undermine ofreligion life.
insocial most
Indeed, scientists
social
would agree
probably thatthe"modern empirical hasreplaced
worldview the
worldview"
religious
miraculous 1995:
(Roberts 337). in
Nevertheless, recent
theory
secularization
years, hascomeunder serious (Hadden
attack 1995;Stark
andlannaccone1994;StarkandMcCann 1993;Warner Thesevarious
1993).
evidence
provide
challenges andargumentsthat far
religion, fromdisappearing,

toBrendan
correspondence
* lArect Depemment
Maguire, andAnthropology,
ofSoaology Universie,
Westmlllinois
Macomb, IL 61455.
171

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
172 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

is perhaps gaininginstrength.Starkandlannaccone (1994:249)haveeven

contended thattheempiricaievidence vitality
ofreligious has"falsified"
secuS
larizationtheory.
aspervasive
Is religion androbust researchers
as theanti-secularization sug-
gest?SociologistofcultureRobertWuthnow isamong many whothinkthatit
is.Wuthnow (1989:15) observesthatreligion is "deeplyembedded in the
broader socialenvironment."Thissuggests thatreligioussymbolism is not
restrictedtoa special sphere,
"sacred" butcanbefound inanynumber ofsocial
contexts andsocialmediumsincluding, presumably, Byexamining
television.
television commercials content,
forreligious thepresent projectprovides a
highly focused andadmittedlylimited Inparticular}
testofthisproposition. we
hopetO shedlight onthefollowing questions: tO what
First, extentisreligious
symbolism usedtosellproducts Andsecondifreligion
on television? is used
rarely,isitbecause ofoffending
arefearful
advertisers viewers byco-minglingthe
sacred andtheprofane, simply
ordoadvertisers think symbolism
thatreligious is
ineffectiveina salescontext?

DATA AND METHODS

Thedatahighlighted inthisstudy weregathered inthefirsttwomonths of

1996.A sample oftelevisioncommercials wasdrawn with respecttofour consid-
erations:(1) dayoftheweek;(2) network (3) timeofthedayor
affiliation;
evening;and(4) coupling ofdateandnetwork. Brief elakorationofthesepoints
isrequired.
Thesample ofeight
consisted days(andevenings), four
(luringtheweekand
four on theweekend. SampledatesbeganonJanuary 22 (Monday) withthe
intention ofvideotaping thefirst four weekdays(January 22-25)andthefirst
fourweekend days(January27-28andFebruary 3-4).AllFridays were excluded
from analysisbecauseFriday evening considered
isgenerally partoftheweek-
end.It isworth noting thatthesample selectionofdateshadtobeamended.
Thefirst Thursday (January25) waseliminatedas a resultofa videocassette
recordermalfunction.Inaddition, theweekend ofJanuary 27-28(Saturday and
Sunday) wasomitted because it wasSuper Bowlweekend. Programming aswell
as commercials onSuperBowlweekend mightnotbe representative ofother
weekends duringtheyear.February 3-4and10-11became thesample weekend
dates.
Commercials from eightnetworks weresampled. Thisincluded ABC,CBS,
FOX,andNBC,thefour major networksas wellas a news network (CNN),a
sportsnetwork (ESPN),a channel devotedto"family" entertainment (FAM),
anda musicvideochannel (M1V).Thesample consistedofa range ofboth
generalprogramming andspecial focusnetworks.
Fivehours werevideotapedforeachsample day:7:00-8:00 A.M.;2:00-3:00
P.M.;4:00-5:00P.M.;7:00-8:00 P.M.;and 11:00-midnight (all timeswere

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 OF RELIGIONAND TELEVISIONCOMMERCIALS
THE SECULARIZATION 173

CentralStandard ofthedayandevening
Time).Thesehours werechosento
ofprogramming
a widevariety
assure commercials.
andtherefore
andaudiences,
A random drawwasusedtodetermine foreachnetwork.
thedateofanalysis
Theorderwasasfollows:
ESPN 22 (Monday)
Januaty
CBS January23 (Tuesday)
ABC 24 (Wednesday)
January
FAM January29 (Monday)
FOX 3 (Saturday)
February
M1V February
4 (Sunday)
CNN 10 (Saturday)
February
NBC 11 (Sunday)
February

Content analysis method

isa research for"analyzing thesymbolic content of
anycommunication" et al. 1988:
(Singleton, 347).Inshort, content analysisisa
codingoperation. Thepresent paperispartofa broader project thatcoded797
commercials
television forthreeprincipal content categories(religioussymbol-
ism,violence,and"moral decay").Coding forthepresent project focused only
on religioussymbolism. Thiscontent category wasdefined bythefollowing
recordingunits:depictionofa houseofworship (forexample, a church); depic-
tionofa member oftheclergy;andcontent featuringanyofthefollowing words
orsymbols: "God,"
"religious,"
"spiritual," "soul," or"angel."
Coding forthisprojectwasrelatively straightforward (unlike thecoding for
thetwo othercontent categories identified above).Furthermore, all ofthe
codingwasdonebyone person whichgenerally maximizes consistency in
coding.Ofcourse, thegreat danger ofhaving justonecoderisthepossibility of
systematicbias.Asa methodological check, a colleaguecodedtenhours (one-
fourthofthesample). Inaddition,students ina graduate seminar reviewed allof
thecommercials bythecoders.
identified Neither thecolleague's coding ofthe
subsample,northereview byseminar students, pointedtoanydiscrepancies in
thenumber commercials
of"religious" identified.

FINDINGS

Themost important ofthisstudy

finding commer-
fewtelevision
isthatvery
religious
cialscontain Outof797commercials
symbolism. examined,only16
Asindicated
content.
orspiritual
hadreligious inTable1,these16commercials
ofonlyeight
consist
actually commercials.
distinct ofthe16arerepeats.
Several
Thefirstthreecommercials religious
inTable1 useconventional
identified
symbols product:
tohelpsella commercial thefirst
commercial(Buick) a
depicts
family uptoa church;
driving thesecond commercial cereal)
(Kellogg a
portrays
eating
minister with
breakfast herfatherandthenperforming marriage;
herfirst
andthethirdcommercial features
(Coca-Cola) a choir
church outside
singing of

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174 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

a church.
Thelastcommercial
alsodepicts
a manlevitating.
Thiswastheonly
commercial
inthesample
thathadtwodistinct
religious
themes.
TABLE1

Television
Commercials
Containing
Religious
orSpiritual
Content

Sponsor Cor.tent

1.Buick Familydrives
a caruptoa church (appearedtwice).
2.Kellogg Ministerperforms
herfirstmarriageafter
eating breakfast
cereal
(appearedtwice).
3.Coca-Cola Church choir
singingoutsideofa churchi
a manlevitates.
4. H&RBlock Ministeroffers
financial
advice tocoupleheismarrying.
5.Wendy's Owner ofWendy's listens
todevilandangel (appearedthree
times).
6. Danka Officesupply
representative
climbs mountaintoptofixfaxmachine
ofDalaiLama.
7.Wrigley Crowd viewswhale buta personchewinga rival
brand gurnmisses
the
sighting
becausesheissearchingtoreplaceherflavorless
gum.Anobserver
refers
tothemoment as"spiritual"
(appeared
fivetimes).
8.Lexus Automobileengineersweresaidtoput"soul" intotheproduction
oftheir
cars.

Thereligious symbolism present inthenextthree commercials described in

Table1wasunconventional incharacter. Thesecommercials displayreligion in
a fashion thatisnot necessarily positive, at least notpositive from a traditional
point ofview.Inthefirst ofthissetofcommercials, anadvertisement forH&R
Block, a minister advises a brideandgroom, as he ismarrying them, thattheir
marriage willaltertheirtaxfiling status.Thesecondofthissetisa Wendy's
commercial thatshowcases theowner ofthefast-food chainlisteningtoa debate
between hispersonal devilandhispersonal angel.Thedebateconcerns what
ingredients to include ina newsandwich. Third, a DankaOffice Supply com-
mercial portrays a company representative climbing a mountain tofixthefax
machine oftheDalaiLama.Interestingly, thesethree commercials offer a less
thansomber attitude toward thereligious content portrayed.Forexample, the
ideathata minister wouldbethinking ofthefinancial considerations ofmar-
riagesuggests a cavalier attitude toward themarriage as a sacredceremony.
Further, intheWendy's commercial, thedevilwinsthedebate. Finally, inthe
Dankacommercial, thecompany repair person askstheDalaiLamawhatthe
"meaning oflife"is.TheDalaiLamareplies: "I'llfaxittoyou." Although many
viewers might regard thesecommercials ascute, clever, andharmless, they can-
not, strictly speaking, bedescribed astraditional.
The finaltwocommercials identified in Table 1 containthemesof
"spirituality" rather thanreligion. Actually, thinking thatit would bebetter to
erron thesideofbeingtooinclusive, themeaning ofspiritualityis probably

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 OF RELIGIONAND TELEVISIONCOMMERCIALS 175
THE SECULARIZATION

stretchedtoincludethesecommercials.In theWrigley commercial, a crowd is

gathered atanoceanshore toviewa "blueback" whale.Oneoftheindividuals
waitingfortheeventisseenfumbling around foranotherstickofgum.Appar-
ently,thetypeofgumsheischewing losesitsflavor Inanyevent}
rapidly. while
tryingtolocatemoregumf thewhale appearsandthendisappears before theper-
sonlooksup.Herdisappointment inmissing theeventisexacerbated byanother
observer's ofthemoment
description Finally,
as"sospiritual." a Lexuscommer-
cialclaims put"soul"
thatLexusengineers intotheproductionoftheircars.
Takenasa whole, suggests
theanalysis (or
thatreligion isonly
spirituality)
rarelyusedto sellproductsorservices Moreover,
on television. evenwhen
religion theconnotation
isinvoked, isnotalways conventional, orforthatmat-
ter,pos1t1ve.
. .

mentioned,
As previously only16commercials withreligiousorspiritual
content Withsofewcommercials,
wereidentified. itisdifficulttodiscern any
meaningful withregard
patterns tonetwork, time or
slot, day of the week. In
fact,noneofthesevariablesappeartohaveanyrelationship totheuseofrelig-
Ion ln commercla. .s.
. . .

DlSCUSSlON

Itwould bedifficult tooverstatetheimportance oftelevisionintheUnited

States.Nearly allAmerican householdshaveatleastonetelevision setanditis
turned onanaverage ofnearly eight hoursa day(Perkinson 1996).Whilethe
content oftelevision programs hasbeenstudied socialscientists
extensively,
havenotbeenas attentive to televisioncommercials. Thisis unfortunate
because commercials tOO canbe seenas a barometer ofprevailing patternsof
Thepresent
sociallife. studyhasfocused oncommercials injustthisway-as a
gauge formeasuring thecurrent ofreligion
influence insociety.
Analysisof797television commercials revealedthatveryfewadvertisersuse
religioussymbols toselltheirproducts Whyisthis?
orservices. Thereareatleast
fivepossible explanations. itcouldbethatadvertisers
First} think thatreligion
hasbecome largely toeveryday
irrelevant life.Thisisconsistentwiththesecu-
larizationthesis which arguesthatinmodern science
society, hasincreasingly
displaced religionas a centralsystem andmeanings.
ofbeliefs Although survey
respondents generally reportthatthey believeinGod,andhavehighratesof
participation inreligious advertisers
practices, mayassume thatsuchreligious
commitment isperfunctory theorists
Secularization
andsuperficial. concedethat
religionliveson,butnotina vitalenough wayto influence practicaldecision
making. Ofcourse, anextreme versionofthisargument suggests is
thatreligion
notjUSt irrelevant,itisa socialeviltoberooted out.Viewers holding suchcon-
spicuouslyhostile attitudeswould respond
likely tocommercials
negatively using
relglOUS content.
* .

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176 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION

A secondexplanation forwhyadvertisers might avoidusingreligion in

commercials relates totheconcept known as ('separation ofchurch andstate.'
Segregating thesacredandthesecular is an historical practice in American

sociallife. Conceivably, advertisers aresimply following a longstanding norm. Of

course, thecontradiction hereisthatthenorm isprobably more theoretical than
actual. Itisplainly thecasethatthesacred andsecular realms havespilled over
intooneanother. Perhaps themost obvious example ofthiswould bethepoliti-
cal involvement ofthereligious leftinthe1960sandthereligious right inthe
1980s.Ithasworked theother wayaswell.Forinstance, thecourts havemade
numerous rulings onissues thatwere oncethought ofasreligious concerns.
Third, perhaps advertisers arereluctant to highlight religious content in
their commercials because religion isnot considered dramatic enough tO capture
cur holdtheattention ofviewers. Research hasshown, forexample, thatmany
television viewers havea penchant for"grazing?" thatis,using theremote con-
troldeviceto "flip, zip, andzap"whatisonthescreen (Gilbert 1989).While
thisis a problem forregular programming, it is mostacute forcommercials
(Moriarty andEverett 1994* 352).Hence,advertisers mustoffer commercials
thatwillnot onlydeter grazing, butalsodissuade viewers from taking commer-
cialtimeto prepare a sandwichs takethegarbage outX ornumerous other activi-
ties.AccordinglyX commercials frequently feature highenergy activities suchas
surfing, skiing, andjogging and/or a spokesperson whoisa movie starorprofes-
sionalathlete. Ofcourse} commercials (ftenusesexymodels tO make a sales
pitch. Allofthesetactics aredesigned toattract andholdaudience attention.
Advertisers might Ixlievethatreligious symbolism isunlikely tofulfill thattask.
A fourth explanation br theinfrequency ofreligious content intelevision
advertising might reflecta marketplace desire to maximize thematch between
message andaudience. Thepoint hereisthatadvertisers maynot becontent to
simply promote theirproduct; ideally, theymaywishto promote thetypeof
activities thatrequire or encourage useoftheproduct. Forinstance, according to
thisview, a soda commercial ismore likely to highlight people engaged in vigor-
ousphysical activity rather thansedentary behavior. A commitment to this
strategy would necessarily reduce thenumber ofproducts appropriate fora relig-
ious-content commercialJ
Speaking more generally, thetelevision audience most attuned toreligious
content tendsto be olderthanaverage(Wuthnow 1989:138-139).Older
viewers, however, aretypically a secondary market foradvertisers whoaremost
concerned with appealing to younger agegroups (Taylor 1995).
Thereisa fifth explanation, onebasedonthenotion thatreligion remains
an important andinfluential partofculture. Inshort, advertisers might refrain
from usingreligion becausetheyareworried thatthe"commodification'} of
religion might offend viewers. Thosewhoholdpositive andstrong religious con-.
victions might objecttotheuseofreligion asa salesgimmick. Ttlisexplanation
isconsistent withempirical evidence showing thatreligion ispractically absent

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 OF RELIGIONAND TELEVISIONCOMMERCIALS 177
THE SECULARIZATION

from prime-timenetwork programming (Skill,etal. 1994;Gable19933.This

situationhasbeendescribed "Godonprime-time
as follows: television is like
GodinAmerican culture submerged mostofthetime, emerging onlyas a
gueststarwhose appearance israrelyannounced" (Miles1997:25).Religion is
seldomemphasized eventhough surveyresearch showsthata majority of
American believe
adults thatreligion doesnotgetenough attention onprime-
timetelevision(Kaufman 1997:33).Apparently, producers believe thatreligion
toodifficult
isa subject toportray ina waythatisacceptable toallviewers.
Oneproblem withthisexplanation,however, isthatthere area smallnum-
berofcommercials thatdo makeuseofreligious symbolism. It is difficultto
believethatbigcompanies suchas Buick, Coca-Cola, andWendy's would put
anyreligious-contentadsontelevisic)nwithoutfirstmarket-testing viewer reac-
tions,andifanyevidence wasfound tosuggest thatsuchcommercials offend
viewers,itisdoubtfulthatthey would beaired.Itispossible, although notprob-
able,thatcompanies simply donothaveanyinformation onewayortheother
regardingthisissue.Evenso,historically,there havebeenat leasta fewcom-
mercialsthathavefeatured religioussymbolism. It isunlikely thatcurrent ad
executives wouldbeunaware ofanystrong backlash, ifthere wasany,tosuch
commercials.

CONCLUSION

research
social-scientific
Ideally, answersimportant questions aboutsocial
life.Attimes,however,rather thanproviding answers, a research project
will
Thepresent
raisequestions. study hasdoneboth.Wehaveanswered theques-
tionaboutwhether ornottelevision usereligion
advertisers tohelpselltheir
Theanswer
products. isthatit is veryuncommon, only16outof797commer-
cialssampledhadreligiousorspiritualisticcontent. It is usefulto notethis
informationbecauseitis notfound anywhere elseintheresearch literature.
Although thattherearenohistorical
itis unfortunate studies withwhichto
compare thepresentfindings, at leastthisprojectprovides a startingpoint.
Futureresearchonthistopicwillneedtofocus onadvertisers directly.
A survey
would
ofadvertisers belikelytoyield dataregarding
valuable theuseofreligion
ontelevision.

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