9 religion and

9 religion and advertising

Big-time advertisers have seen the light. In a Gallup poll released in May, 42 percent of Americans identified themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians, and marketers including Coca-Cola, Pine-Sol, Chevrolet and Bank of America all earmarked ad dollars in 2005 to wooing this family-focused, brand-loyal market. In doing so, they tapped into a demographic grateful for church-event sponsorship without eliciting complaints from the secular set. Other marketers found themselves playing defense in the face of conservative criticism.