Written by Rookie, AllHabs.net
MONTREAL, QC. — This morning, the Catholic archdiocese of Montreal unveiled its annual advertising campaign in two of Montreal’s daily newspapers:
It shows a list of, presumably, the NHL’s Eastern Conference rankings, but in the eighth-place rank, instead of (optimistically) listing Montreal, the ad shows the word “Prions,” French for “let’s pray.”
Opinions on this ad are, no surprise here, as varied as they would be on anything related to the Canadiens or religion. (Which, by the way, are actually two different things.)
Ads like the one above are part of a campaign for the Catholic diocese’s annual collection. Every year, a Montreal-based advertising agency designs an ad like the one above that combines the church with different elements of our everyday lives. Every year, the ads look just as organic printed on huge banners outside a cathedral as they do in bus shelters.
I liked their 2009 campaign, which played on cell phone advertisements. What I like about this year’s ad is that it proves that Catholics, just like hockey fans, are regular people. (We are! Yes, really.)
Maybe some of us pray for the Canadiens. A lot of us pray for other things as well. And many of us try to see things in a positive light, regardless of whether we’re winning or losing (and I’m not just talking about hockey.) So, while the common misconception is that the Church is trying to encourage people to pray for a Habs playoff berth, I’d say that they’re actually reminding us to pray, in general. Not to mention that the ad has already begun serving its purpose by garnering so much attention for the Church, less than 24 hours after its initial publication.
When presenting this ad campaign, the Catholic Church asked on its Facebook page, “Do you still have hope?”
I’m not sure whether they were talking about the Canadiens or not, but I definitely laughed when a Habs fan suggested directing our hockey prayers to St. Jude, the patron saint of hopeless cases.
I think the ad is brilliant. Without preaching (pun intended), it appeals to two factions, which intersect probably more than we know. I heard an interview with the creator of the ad who made me smile. It’s a simple, concise, self-explanatory advertisement which does depict what is so often said about our city, our country: hockey is a religion! It’s said in the vernacular, of course, but I, for one, see it as a huge compliment. Religion is a commitment to following something with one’s total heart, with faith and hope and belief, and if our Habs fan base is any indication, the spiritual and emotional (both elements of religious followings) certainly mesh with the thinking here.
Pray? Remember 2010? They would have a priest, rabbi, even buddhist monk praying and every time we played and won, there was this bemusement among those who had heard the radio prayers. Remember the scenes at St-Joseph’s Oratory, Habs fans taking their knees up the stairs, with sticks marked “Halak”? I thought it was so much fun!
And if one is an atheist, and thinks religion is magical thinking – why not attribute what happened in 2010, and some of the streaks since, to magical occurrences?
Nope, no criticism here – just thumbs up on the utter creativity and appeal the ad invokes!
I think the ad worked…Gomez scored a game winning goal the night after it appeared in the newspaper.
Thank you both very much for your comments! I’ll admit that I’ve prayed for my team… Maybe not in a “Please, God, let them beat the Sabres” kind of way, more in a “Please keep them safe and help them to play their best, because come on, we all know whose side the Bruins are on” kind of way.
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