Commentary (not written by savestmary's):
Yes, this is a real pitch by the Diocese of Brooklyn. Does Bishop DiMarzio really think this will bring the youngsters into the Catholic Church? This is brought to you by the same Los Angeles ad agency that uses the devil to promote Catholic television:
The campaign [for NET, the Diocese's cable TV channel], by Cesario Migliozzi in Los Angeles, features an unusual spokesman for religious television: the Devil. "We could have easily said, 'Net is the network you've been praying for,' but we need to get eyeballs," said Michael Migliozzi, partner and creative director at Cesario Migliozzi. "The idea of having a little devil telling you not to do it would be a lot of fun."
The Times reports that the"fun" devil ad cost the Diocese of Brooklyn about $200,000. "Father Vic," who we'd guess is an under-employed L.A. actor, must have lightened the collection plates of a few more hundred thousand dollars.
In totally unrelated news, the Diocese of Brooklyn recently announced the closings of over a dozen schools as part of it's "Preserving the Vision" campaign (where do they come up with these names?), citing budget deficits that approached a million dollars a year. Getting out the calculator, the average shuttered school would be responsible for $70,000 in annual deficit. Two $200,000 ads represents 5.7 closed schools and thousands of students.
Ah, but "Father Vic" is pretty darn cute, don't you agree? I bet he got a lot of "View Again" clicks in the Rectory offices.