Mormon TV Ads I Am a Mormon

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly referred to as the Mormon Church, has recently launched as series of advertisements in select American cities which highlight an individual member of the Church. Individual members are encouraged to create a video profile in order to be used as an advertisement for the Mormon Church and its members. The idea behind the campaign is to present the members of the Mormon Church as regular, ordinary Americans and not members of some strange religious cult. This seems to be a response to both the recent legal troubles of Mormon-offshoot organizations as well as the rise of Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is a member of the Mormon Church.

One particular advertisement which has aired on television is the profile of pro-surfer Joy Monahan who provides a profile in which she describes herself as "2008...

As a champion she is presented as remarkably down-to-earth, admitting that after her winning the 2008 world's championship, she had to go back to school and "do chores, clean up my house and cook dinner." (Goodwin, 2010) After discussing her life, her family, and her surfing, Joy Monahan closes the advertisement by stating "My name is Joy Monahan, I'm a professional long board surfer, and I'm a Mormon." (Goodwin, 2010)
This advertisement is particularly effective as is also discusses Joy's belief that like surfing, in life one needs to be positioned in the right place at the right time. This implies that being in the Mormon Church is a way to position oneself in the right place. It may be simply that Joy Monahan feels that the…