DALLAS — Super Bowl LVIII was the most-watched Super Bowl in history, and while the Dallas Cowboys may not have reached the big game, their home region still managed to find its way into the night's spotlight.
Over the course of the game, two commercials aired in promotion of the controversial "He Gets Us" campaign that were -- for the second year -- produced by the Dallas advertising agency LERMA/. One centered around the idea of Jesus Christ washing his disciples' feet, and another celebrated a "love your neighbor" concept.
The latter, beyond being locally produced, was directed by and starred local talent, and featured photos shot on scene in various locations around North Texas.
While by no means alone among Super Bowl ads to air with North Texas ties, the "He Gets Us" ads do stand out for the controversy they've sparked in the wake of airing -- and for the back-and-forth social commentary surrounding one of their set locations in particular.
Since Sunday night, fans of the Dallas dive bar Lee Harvey's -- located just south of downtown Dallas in the neighborhood of The Cedars, and named for President John F. Kennedy's local assassin -- have been embroiled in a debate about the bar's decision to post that it was used as a location for one of the "Who is My Neighbor?" ad's photos.
In the ad, a bearded man sits in the front room of Lee Harvey's, exhaling cigarette smoke. (Smoking in bars has been banned in Dallas since 2009.) The image comprises the opening second of the 16-second spot.
Hours after the ad ran during the Super Bowl, the operators of the bar's Facebook account shared a still frame from that first second of the ad, writing "In case you missed it, your friendly neighborhood bar, Lee Harvey’s, was featured in a commercial during the Super Bowl."
Included among the congratulatory messages that followed in the comments, however, was also plenty of outrage.
"Well I guess you won’t get any more of my business for helping to support a hate group!" one person wrote in the comments of that first post about the ad from Lee Harvey's.
Since its national launch in 2022, the He Gets Us campaign, which says it aims to "remind people that the story of Jesus belongs to everyone," has been criticized over being backed by funders who have supported anti-LGBTQ causes.
On its website, the campaign -- ads for which are regularly seen in televised sport broadcasts, including those for the Texas Rangers -- says “Jesus loves gay people and Jesus loves trans people" and notes that "the LGBTQ+ community, like all people, is invited to explore the story of Jesus and consider his example of unconditional love, grace, and forgiveness of others."
Critics of the campaign, however, note that the campaign is managed by a nonprofit called Come Near that, while it claims to be "not funded by or affiliated with any single individual, political position, church, or faith denomination," includes on its board of directors Mart Green, the son of Hobby Lobby founder and CEO David Green. The younger Green is also listed as Hobby Lobby’s Ministry Investment Officer.
Hobby Lobby has reportedly been the subject of several controversies over the years, including fighting to deny employees insurance coverage for contraceptives and requesting to be exempt from laws prohibiting LGBTQ+ discrimination, all while citing religious freedom.
In the wake of the negative reaction from their first post, Lee Harvey's social media operators again took to Facebook -- this time to stem the rising tide of disapproval.
"Allow us to clear up recent confusion about the Super Bowl advertisement that featured a photo taken inside of Lee Harvey’s," their follow-up post read. "We were used as a location by an advertising agency unaware of the client. It wasn't until later that we discovered our business would be part of a Super Bowl ad, still not knowing the client. We do not endorse, align with, or support this campaign or client in any way. One of the many things that sets us apart is our diverse and inclusive crowd, where everyone is always welcome. WE LOVE EVERYBODY."
While Lee Harvey's may not "endorse" or "support" the campaign in which it was featured, its final social media message on the matter -- "WE LOVE EVERYBODY," in all caps -- at least partly echoes the "love your neighbor" message of the ad.
And that's something that other locals involved in the campaign are choosing to embrace about their participation.
Trey Hill, the Dallas-based director behind the project, described in a post on Instagram his aim for the project: "I ended my treatment with a question: 'It may be a mere 15-seconds, but in that time, the world — all our neighbors — will give what we create their attention. What will you make with the time you’ve been given?' I hope you guys are as proud of our collective answer to that question as I am."
Jennifer Berry Whitten Monroe, a McKinney resident cast as one of the photo subjects in the campaign, also wrote on Instagram about how proud she was to be involved in the project: "It takes a village to create a little piece of magic and every one of these people brought their unique blend of talent, creativity, and vision to this project. The final product that these geniuses produced just aired during the Super Bowl and it is our collective hope that this message reaches and resonates deeply. Love your neighbor."
As for the agency behind the campaign, it too expressed pride in its participation.
Wrote LERMA/ on LinkedIn about the ad: "Standing ovation to everyone who worked on this."
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