Focus on the Family is considering advertising on more reality shows after getting a big response from spots it ran during ABC’s “Supernanny.”
The ads, the first ones the Christian ministry has run on national, prime-time TV, have raised questions about ABC’s previous decision to turn down ads from another religious group, the Cleveland-based United Church of Christ. The mainline Protestant denomination says its ads welcoming the “spiritually wounded” to church also should have been allowed on ABC in December.
Focus on the Family advertised its faith-based parenting advice on two episodes of the show about a British nanny who tries to help harried American couples discipline their kids.
During the nearly two-week period since the first ad ran, the group’s “Focus on Your Child” website has gotten 70,000 hits, up about 82 percent from what the group usually gets during that time, spokeswoman Lisa Anderson said Friday. About 10,000 people signed up to receive a newsletter and other materials with age-specific child-rearing advice and encouragement for parents.
“The whole reality craze shows that folks are eager for help and resources as they deal with relationships with their spouses and with parenting,” Anderson said.
Because of the Focus ads, the United Church of Christ is asking ABC to clarify its policy on religious advertising. The Rev. Robert Chase said Friday that ABC told the church that it had a long-standing policy against allowing religious advertising, but he thinks that if the Focus ad was aired, then his church’s ads also should be allowed.
