From CNA:
The Catholic prayer app Hallow aired its first-ever commercial during Super Bowl LVIII, which saw the Kansas City Chiefs win their second consecutive championship on Feb. 11. Immediately following the airing of the ad, Hallow saw the biggest spike in downloads in its history, according to Alex Jones, CEO of Hallow.
“It was the most downloads in a single minute we’d ever seen,” Jones told CNA. “We’re already ranking ahead of Netflix on the App Store charts and Lent hasn’t even started yet. Glory to God.”
The 30-second ad was shown in 15 markets across the country.
… “It was a phenomenal night. A dream come true. For the first time ever during the Super Bowl, we all got to take 30 seconds to give thanks to God,” Jones, who is also co-founder of Hallow, told CNA in an interview.
“We’ve been blown away by the responses to the spot,” he said. “We’ve heard from many who were inspired to join us and give prayer a try for the first time in a long time this Lent.”
Jones shared that they were “humbled” to see the response from people, receiving thousands of emails, tweets, and text messages from people sharing their thoughts.
AP, meanwhile, took note of the controversial “He Gets Us” ads:
For the second year in a row, a religious Super Bowl ad campaign promised viewers that Jesus “gets us.”
Two commercials shown Sunday night centered Jesus’ message to love your neighbors — even across ideological divides. In one, people of different races, classes and gender expressions have their feet washed, including a woman outside a family planning clinic.
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“Our goal is to really show that Jesus loved and cared for anyone and everyone,” He Gets Us campaign spokesperson Greg Miller told The Associated Press on Monday. He said the campaign’s website received 715,000 views in the previous 24 hours.
On social media, the ads drew criticism across the ideological spectrum. Some conservatives contended they were overly “woke.” Other critics noted that the campaign’s welcoming and progressive messages seem at odds with some of its Christian funders, who have also supported anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion causes.
