Good Evening Everyone,

What a roller coaster of a week this has been! Considering I only sent the initial message to less than 50 people a week ago, reaching 20 000 today was quite a surprise! God has been working through this.

Now for an update:

As you know, I have been in contact with the AdStandards board (and some other channels) this week. Two things have come from this:

1)      As the ad is not airing on television (there was only talk of it), it is hence not within the scope of the board to review the advertisement,

BUT

2)      They have been in contact with the advertiser and stated the following to me in an email:

“We have been in contact with the advertiser and they have confirmed that the advertisement is not currently broadcast on television as an advertisement, and will not be broadcast on television.”

Hence, it does not appear that this advertisement will be airing at this stage. (Hold on, our work is not finished yet).

I discovered the following whilst researching the advertisement.

1)      The advertisement is actually a short film directed by Richard Todd which had the aim of attracting people to the “Dying to Live” campaign. The said campaign produced a documentary on organ donation and used the short film as an “impact ad” to draw attention. Interestingly, a large section on their website has recently been deleted that linked their campaign to the ad, also stating that it was meant to spark controversial conversations. You can see the remnants of the link on their website here: https://www.dyingtolive.com.au/the-campaign  (scroll down on the link to see the images)

2)      It appears that our Australian Media failed to mention that this was actually a short film and also failed to mention that it might not be airing immediately (one report stated that the ad will air from the 20th of this month). It is hence difficult to determine whether the ad was meant to be aired, or whether it was pulled from airing at a later stage.

BUT our job is not done yet!

It is important that we let the ‘Dying to Live’ campaign know that we will not tolerate blasphemy towards Jesus Christ! So, I need one more favor from you. Can you please take the time to write to the ‘Dying to Live’ campaign to let them know three things: a) We will not allow Jesus to be mocked b) We request that the short film/ad be removed immediately c) many have stated that they will remove their organ donation registration because of the advertisement as they feel that they cannot morally support such a campaign (this is not my personal opinion but it serves to show that the campaign is not having its intended impact). 

Here is the link to write to them: https://www.dyingtolive.com.au/contact

I will be sending them this petition as well but would love your support.

Feel free to send me a message or leave a comment on the campaign page to let me know that you have done so.

Finally,

I am considering closing this campaign as we have no immediate evidence that the ad will be airing as of yet. I hope that this campaign has taught you the following;

1)      You can make a difference as a Christian and your voice should be heard.

2)      You are not alone! There are Christians in your suburb and there are Christians at your workplace- look how quickly over 20 000 people came together to stand up for our faith!

3)      You can talk be bold to talk to people about Jesus in your community about Jesus (this petition started quite a few conversations for me at work this week).

4)      God can use anyone to be a witness for Him!

Thank you for your support over the last week and for all the (mostly) encouraging messages of support! I hope that we will all start campaigning on the issues threatening our faith and that we will be bold to speak the truth in love.

Your sister in Christ,

Dané Craill