If you grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the mid-90’s and early-2000’s, you’ve likely seen the infamous Mormon Ads produced by the Church (otherwise known as the Mormon Church). The graphic design is awesome, though sometimes a little far-fetched (as we’ll discuss in today’s episode). The reactions of the hosts may be similar to your reactions but we want to read about your reactions so don’t forget to comment with your thoughts on the Mormon Ads!! Also, if there are other Mormon Ads that you LOVE that we missed, DM us on Instagram and we’ll include the picture in our next reaction video 🙂
Video Transcript:
David:
The poop in your brownies.
Justin:
Yeah, Yeah.
David:
That’s another version of it.
Justin:
Which honestly is less gross than a cockroach in your ice cream.
Taylor:
I would disagree.
David:
Whose starting this? We didn’t talk about this before.
Taylor:
Nose goes. Ha.
Justin:
So today we’re going to talk about some…have we done this before? Have we done Mormon ads?
David:
[crosstalk 00:00:29] We’ve done the commercials.
Justin:
We’ve done commercials. So there’s this cultural gem in the church.
David:
[crosstalk 00:00:38] Well said.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:00:39] Well, we’ll call it a gem.
Justin:
The diamond. And there were these series of ads that the church was releasing.
Taylor:
There were like the first memes almost.
Justin:
They literally are memes, the picture with words. Yeah, and they were little messages to just help the youth remember…
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:00:55] Right, they were inspiring memes.
Justin:
Their, what is it called? Their standards.
David:
Yeah.
Justin:
Yeah, you could say that. Kind of like For the Strength of Youth, but in meme format.
Taylor:
Yeah I feel like that’s exactly where they drew.
David:
Like dad joke format a lot of the time.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:01:10] Oh. Yeah.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:01:10] Yeah.
David:
So there are a lot of puns.
Taylor:
I mean, sometimes there meant to be funny, but most of them are just…
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:01:16] I remember looking at them when I was a teenager feeling that they were a little dated, cause they’re nineties humor.
Justin:
And I grew up, you know, in the 2000’s. And I’d be like, okay, this is old, but I’d be like, oh, that’s nice. So we’re going to go through and just react and look at some, react. I don’t think we’ve seen, maybe we’ve seen some of them in the past, but most of these will be…
Taylor:
And this is a side note, but there’s three of us today.
David:
Yeah. That’s been awhile, been a while. Three my lord, pick number three.
David:
Okay well, number one?
Justin:
Yeah, we’ll kind of take turns here.
Taylor:
Justin, what do you think of this?
Justin:
Well, I’m going to describe what I see.
Taylor:
Okay. Let’s start. Let’s do it.
Justin:
I see death. That’s so terrible. Well so, it just makes me sick. I don’t like this image.
Taylor:
It is horrific.
Justin:
So it says spread thin question mark. And then you’ve got, I don’t know what, I literally feel nauseous. It’s this boy being spread as if he’s peanut butter and jelly.
Taylor:
I think what makes it doubly disturbing is that there’s a bit of jam on the knife there. It’s obviously coming from his shorts.
Justin:
I don’t know if you’ve seen Ant Man, but the villain has this shrinking gun and he tests and then it doesn’t work right, so he shoots a guy with it, and the guy turns into this little blob of jelly and then he just scoops him up and I almost threw up. And it’s like this Marvel movie. I’m just like, oh, oh, that’s what this reminds me of. It’s just someone who’s got [inaudible 00:02:59]
David:
Turkish delight.
Taylor:
Did you guys see SpongeBob, right? The episode with the Krusty Krab training video, every time SpongeBob jumps at the Krabby Patty, they swat him with a fly swatter and he’s like this splattered thing, and he’s got legs and stuff sticking out.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:03:21] Yeah, yeah, and his legs are sticking out like a bug.
David:
I think what disturbs me the most about it is the kid looks like he’s been run over by a Tonka truck, but he’s looking back at himself like, this is fine. He’s totally fine with it.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:03:40] He’s looking at his butt.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:03:41] Like, ah what’s happening?
He does not look fine.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:03:42] I’m delicious.
Taylor:
He has fear on his face.
Justin:
Well, I think we should address what it’s trying to tell us.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:03:48] Right, right, stop criticizing it.
Justin:
You know, sometimes we feel like we need to do everything. I don’t know why. And like we need to say yes to everyone and we need to be good at music, sports, drama, video games, more sports, money apparently.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:03:58] He’s surrounded by all of his favorite things.
Looks like, I think that’s movie tickets.
David:
[crosstalk 00:04:05] Movie tickets.
Justin:
Oh, they’re movie tickets. Oh.
Taylor:
Back in the day, remember those, movie tickets? That was a thing.
Justin:
Right, right, when you didn’t use your phone. Anyways, so sometimes we just try to do too many things at once and we get spread thin.
Taylor:
And if you have too many things to do and you find yourself in a jam, try a smaller slice of life.
David:
You know whoever wrote that was just like, this.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:04:29] I got this.
David:
This is good copy.
Taylor:
There’s the dad joke that’s not really funny but, the puns, its not funny, its just clever.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:04:39] That’s the thing though, it’s not funny. Its so weird, and I don’t even know if they were trying to be funny, but what were
they trying?
Taylor:
I think they’re just trying to get…
David:
They’re trying to try to reach the young folk.
Justin:
Right. Young folk.
David:
Yeah. I mean, the message still stands. Don’t spread yourself too thin.
Justin:
It’s beautiful.
David:
Here’s the deal. I appreciate this. I look at it and I’m interested in it. I’m captivated by it. I want to know why there is a kid who is like spread across a piece of bread. And I think that makes it an effective piece of advertising.
Justin:
It’s almost too high quality because we’re so used to memes that are made just cut and paste from low quality, low Res.
Taylor:
I mean, this took effort.
Justin:
This is before Photoshop was a thing. It’s a real kid that they Photoshopped on a piece of bread.
David:
Wow.
Taylor:
That’s a real kid. They spread him out on that toast.
Justin:
I’m just kidding, I don’t know.
Taylor:
Anyways, yeah let’s move on. We spent a lot of time.
David:
Feeling sour? And then the caption says, squeeze in some time for others. Kindness and service bring sweetness to your life.
Justin:
This is an Instagram filter.
David:
It is, isn’t it?
Justin:
Dude, the church was so cutting edge.
David:
Oh my Gosh.
Justin:
We were ahead of it all. What?
David:
Is it too much to say prophetic? Is that too far?
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:05:59] No, no.
Who was the prophet then? Was this Gordon B. Hinckley?
David:
Probably president Hinckley.
Justin:
President Hinckley.
Justin:
He did know. If it was Gordon B. Hinckley, he knew. He always knew what was coming.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:06:09] He knew the Instagram filters?
Justin:
Temples, well the internet. He was so involved in getting the church on the internet and stuff.
David:
We’re going to Hell.
Taylor:
See, what the church needs is their own social media platform.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:06:19] With filters.
Taylor:
With filters like this one that turn you into a Mormon ad and you can share a caption.
Justin:
Oh my Gosh, maybe we need to create that.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:06:24] That sounds legit.
Justin:
Rachel, we need to Create our own Instagram filter.
Rachel:
That is so sick.
Justin:
And have other people who watch the show use… cause like have you seen the one where there is this really cute TikTok of a kid, it’s the potato
filter, it makes you look like a potato, and this little kid and he’s like “I’m a potato”. It’s so cute.
Justin:
This is what it reminds me of.
Taylor:
I’m really out of the loop. I had no idea that potato filters existed.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:06:53] All vegetables.
David:
I think they should have made a Lemonhead joke here. I think that was a missed opportunity.
Justin:
Oh, Yeah, squeezing.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:07:01] Don’t be a Lemonhead.
David:
No, no, we needed a sour. We need like a joke on sour. Not squeezing, cause you can squeeze any fruit,
Taylor:
Well it already says feeling sour.
Justin:
Oh, you’re right, I’m so dumb. Cut that out. Makes me sound like an idiot.
Taylor:
All right, next one. it’s great.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:07:16] Oh, I Remember this one.
Taylor:
Except for the bad parts.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:07:20] All these makes me sick.
Taylor:
What kinds of movies and music are you feeding your mind?
Justin:
We’ve talked about this haven’t we? This metaphor.
David:
[crosstalk 00:07:26] Yeah, I think we have. Yeah, the poop and your brownies. That’s another version of it.
Justin:
Yeah, which honestly is less gross than a cockroach in your ice cream.
Taylor:
I would disagree.
Justin:
Visually, visually.
David:
Debate, debate.
Justin:
No, sorry. Realistically, I would eat around the cockroach fine. Right.
David:
[crosstalk 00:07:43] But if somebody puts poop in a brownie mixture, its all tainted.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:07:45] But the visual, cause how do you show poop in brownie? It would just look like a brownie.
Taylor:
True.
David:
Yeah, marbled.
Justin:
I’m just glad, he didn’t take a bite out of the cockroach did he?
Taylor:
No.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:07:58] Okay good.
Taylor:
The cockroach is just chilling there.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:08:00] That would have been too, that would have put me over the edge.
Taylor:
He’s like [inaudible 00:08:02] this is nice. This is nice.
Justin:
I mean, we should put a link below about our thoughts about this message because
David:
Yeah. This is actually a very nuanced principle here coming in.
Justin:
This is some. thing that we’ve talked about it at length. Right? About how.
David:
[crosstalk 00:08:22] What is the cockroach? You know, what does that mean?
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:08:24] Yeah, exactly.
Taylor:
What are you justifying?
Justin:
And if there’s some bad language in a movie, does that mean you should never watch it? Even if it has a wonderful message, you know?
David:
Or what if somebody’s head gets cut off in the material and they raise up on their hands and flail around and try to breathe. Should you consume that material?
Taylor:
Seems pretty rated R.
David:
That sounds familiar.
Justin:
Is that finding Nemo?
Justin:
I’m just kidding.
Taylor:
The last chapter of the book of Ether.
David:
Yeah. That sounds right, anyways.
Taylor:
Did you just get that?
Justin:
You’re right, I was like, what movie is David talking about?
David:
It’s the Book of Mormon. Got him.
Justin:
I understand. That’s funny.
David:
All right, yeah interesting one.
Justin:
And this looks like…
Taylor:
This is another Instagram filter possibility.
Justin:
Yeah. Yeah. This is a good one. It’s trash-talk and it’s just being when you talk trashy. This is what you look like. This is what you sound like when you swear in Call of Duty after I kill you.
Taylor:
I think what really gets me is the blue substance on the lower lip. What on earth is it?
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:09:37] Yeah, how its like a trash can.
David:
[crosstalk 00:09:37] Yeah it is a trash can. It looks like a paint bucket at first, though.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:09:37] Oh it’s a trash can. I totally thought that it was just this ooze coming out of his mouth. This blue substance.
Justin:
This is one of the less convincing Photoshops, I’ll be honest.
David:
Yeah, I think I see Grover in there. Is that his name, Grover?
Taylor:
Oscar.
David:
Oscar.
Justin:
Oscar.
David:
All right. Be loyal to the royal within. You are a child of a heavenly king who loves you. Be true to your divine future.
Taylor:
Nice.
Justin:
Do you like how all the gross ones we’ve seen so far have been…
David:
guys.
Justin:
Guys, and then the first one with a girl is just like, you are a queen.
Taylor:
You’re beautiful.
Justin:
But men, you’re trash. Just kidding, you’re not.
Taylor:
It is.
Oh, another foul language one. This must’ve been a big, hot topic. Foul language is for the birds. You don’t have to parrot what you hear. Fly high with clean speech.
Justin:
Like I’m saying, it’s not funny. But they’re sticking to it.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:10:31] But its there. They are dedicated.
Justin:
Any opportunity for a pun, we’re going to…
Taylor:
Really, and I love that his outfit is kind of the same color.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:10:39] Kind of like a parrot.
David:
And he’s perched.
Taylor:
Yeah. He’s like squatting there on the branch.
Justin:
He’s, dare I say, squatting on a potting… He’s pooping.
David:
On a potting.
Taylor:
He’s pooping.
Justin:
I was trying to decide whether or not I should make a poop joke.
This is a good one.
Taylor:
I like this one.
Justin:
I like that. Gossip is really bad in general. That’s something I feel like we can all agree on.
Taylor:
Yeah. I remember like this one would hang. I feel like I saw this one a lot.
David:
Yeah.
Taylor:
I don’t know if it was at church or, it was never in my house.
Justin:
It was in my seminary room.
Taylor:
Yeah, maybe it was seminary, but I saw this one a lot and it always really hit me, you know.
Justin:
With the assumption, if you’ve ever tried to wash oil off your hand, it’s very difficult. It takes a long time. And so it’s very strong imagery.
David:
Gossiping, bad news.
Some assembly required. Together we reinforce each other and the Lord strengthens us all.
Justin:
That’s cute.
David:
Okay. I think this is striking at some very relatable, dare I say “priesthood duties.”
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:11:45] Yep, I feel it. Like I can smell the picture, I know what it smells like.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:11:47] Ew gross.
Taylor:
In that room with the chairs, its got a very distinct smell.
Justin:
Yeah it does.
David:
If you grew up in the church, then you know that setting up and taking down chairs is a big part of your Sabbath.
Taylor:
Its just part of life.
Justin:
Its just service to the Lord through chairs.
Taylor:
Through chairs.
Anyways, just looking? Click here. Pornography bites. Every time.
Justin:
Whoa. That one hit. I didn’t know it was coming. I was like crocodile, just looking. I was like, what are they trying to sell me spam or something? And then pornography, boom, it will kill you.
David:
[crosstalk 00:12:26] Click bait.
Justin:
Oh and look how big the mouth is underneath.
David:
[crosstalk 00:12:28] Those teeth are.
Taylor:
Although like, what’s weird is like the top of the alligator isn’t, I wouldn’t touch that.
Justin:
Its not appealing in the least.
Taylor:
Like, I wouldn’t touch the alligator at all. The Message is powerful, but the imagery is a little, like…
Justin:
It looks like a frog. Maybe they’re like, it’s like a frog and then it’s not a frog. I don’t know.
So you are money, and if you put yourself into a giant pig shaped vessel…
Taylor:
I like where this is going.
Justin:
I’m not sure what the clue is, you’re trapped? No, I’m just kidding.
Taylor:
Well, I’m trying to figure out is the pig made of something particular?
Justin:
Papier-mache?
David:
I tried to decide if…
Justin:
oh, it’s like a mission.
David:
Is this about finances? Or is this…
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:13:18] Oh, it’s a mission.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:13:18] Oh, no, it’s like scriptures and a map and you’re like, no, he’s not a missionary though. No, that’s not it.
David:
I’m trying to figure out if it’s about finances or if it’s about like education?
Taylor:
Using a financial thing, financial analogy for education.
Justin:
Invest yourself in your future. Yeah, so just be involved in education.
David:
Education is like…
Justin:
Yeah, it’ll pay off.
David:
It’ll pay off later. Yeah okay.
Justin:
Oh that’s why the piggy banks there. It’ll pay off later because your saving.
Taylor:
Yeah, you’re also going into mountains and mountains of debt.
David:
This one’s so tough to figure out.
Justin:
I need a little more puns. The other ones that were too much pun and this one isn’t enough.
Taylor:
Yeah, well there’s no bottom. There’s no caption at the bottom now. So we got to figure it out from the top.
David:
True.
Don’t be two-faced. To fit in we sometimes put on false faces, pretending to go along with the crowd. Wear those faces too often, and we may forget who we really are. I love that. The image is very weird.
Taylor:
Very eye catching for sure, I mean.
Justin:
The assumption is that the crowd is bad. The crowd is like a lizard dinosaur monster.
David:
Mmm, those lizard dinosaurs.
Taylor:
Right, but deep inside, we are all strange Jack rabbit things.
Justin:
Yeah, you’re right. It isn’t like a normal rabbit.
Taylor:
It’s pretty interesting… is it a rabbit?
Justin:
It is. See, those are his hands right there.
Taylor:
Oh yeah, that’s right.
David:
Its hands?
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:14:39] Just at first you can’t really tell.
Paws? Paws.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:14:41] Front paws.
Justin:
Claws?
Taylor:
We’re just going to move on. Send a knee mail.
Justin:
This is the puns we’ve been waiting for.
Taylor:
I love it. When you send an instant message to Heavenly Father, he’s always there.
Justin:
This is my new Insta bio.
Taylor:
Send a knee mail.
David:
This must’ve been the AOL days when you’d have, do you remember AOL messenger?
Justin:
Oh yeah, the dial up sound.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:15:09] Oh yeah, I think so.
David:
Half of our audience is like, what are they talking about?
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:15:14] Boo.
David:
Yeah, we’re old, I guess.
Justin:
Well, I mean, honestly, these weren’t as bad as I thought they were going to be.
David:
I love these. I still think they’re great.
Justin:
Every message was like, no, I needed that. With the exception of the movie one where I was like, okay, we’ve talked about that.
Taylor:
And all things considered, the graphic design is not terrible, especially for the 80’s and 90’s.
Justin:
And like we were saying, compared to the memes today, much better quality than half of the stuff I see on my Instagram feed.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:15:43] These are high quality, everything was original, they weren’t just reusing.
David:
I think they’re easy to look back on and kind of make fun of, but the principles that they’re teaching are they’re still important today.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:15:55] They’re still applicable, yeah, totally applicable.
Justin:
I’m impressed. So if you guys want to see more, there’s more. You have your reactions in the comments, right? Yeah, leave your thoughts, right?
Taylor:
We should make our own and release them on our Instagram.
David:
[crosstalk 00:16:08] I used to have a collection of these when I was younger.
Justin:
[crosstalk 00:16:12] We should make our own.
I used to have little cards.
David:
Yeah, they would come in the church magazines.
Justin:
And I would cut them out. I loved collecting cards, right.
Taylor:
Keep them in your wallet and stuff.
Justin:
No, I didn’t have a wallet. I must have been, did you have a wallet?
David:
[crosstalk 00:16:23] You were investing in yourself. You had a piggy bank.
Justin:
I was trapped in a piggy bank for half my life.
Taylor:
Bet you didn’t know that about the church.
Justin:
Anyways, please like, subscribe, unless you’re totally done with us. And then you can unsubscribe and then, I’m just kidding, please don’t.
Taylor:
[crosstalk 00:16:41] Its all right if you are.
Justin:
Love you guys, and we’ll see you next time
(Transcript by Rev.com)