Church Launches “I’m a Mormon” Media Campaign in UK to Coincide with Hit Musical

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has launched an integrated "I'm a Mormon" media campaign in the United Kingdom and Ireland to coincide with a hit musical appearing in London’s West End. The campaign is described below.  You can also view videos on prominent Mormons featured in the campaign and reactions from members of the public.

In London, 250 double-decker buses feature advertisements for the next four weeks, as do Charing Cross mainline station and 10 tube stations. Throughout the rest of the UK and Ireland, the effort is focused on the Internet, where “I’m a Mormon” ads will be visible until the end of 2013.

“There is a great amount of interest in Mormons right now in the UK and Ireland,” said Church leader Elder Clifford Herbertson. “People are asking the question, ‘Who are the Mormons?’ and when people are asking questions, we want to be here to provide them with the answers of how and why we follow Jesus Christ.”

“I’m a Mormon” adverts first ran in selected cities in the United States in 2010. A similar campaign to the one running in London was centred in New York City’s Times Square in 2011. Both of these campaigns coincided with the launch of The Book of Mormon Musical in each respective city.

“When people get to know a member of our faith, misperceptions and misunderstanding quickly disappear and are replaced by mutual respect and friendship; these adverts are in no way a tacit endorsement of the play but we want those who have questions to know where they can find real answers.” said Elder Clifford Herbertson. “We hope this campaign opens the door for many more people to learn about us and will understand that we are people of faith who seek to follow Jesus Christ.”

The Church has no connection to or offered any endorsement of the musical and has made its position clear on the production (see statement). However, questions and interest generated by the production provide the Church with an opportunity to better inform the public about who Mormons truly are and how their Christ-centred faith enriches their lives.

The Mormon response to the musical has come in for praise from unexpected quarters with the respected British journal, "The Economist", saying the Church's response has been unique:  "You can judge an organisation by the way it reacts to musical mockery....yet the Mormon church did not organise riots or burn the authors in effigy. Instead, it put out ads saying: 'You’ve seen the play; now read the book.' Not every religion can take a joke so well" (4^th May, 2103).

About the integrated media campaign

For those who want to learn more, the adverts refer viewers to Mormon.org.uk, a version of the Church’s Mormon.org website specifically for the UK and Ireland. In the last year, the Mormon.org website has had over 20 million visitors globally including the UK and Ireland. 

Mormon.org.uk is supported by an official Facebook page at facebook.com/mormon, which has amassed more than 1.5 million "fans" worldwide.  Similar to previous “I’m a Mormon” efforts, this campaign features individual Mormons from the United Kingdom and Ireland in text, photos and video.  

Since 2012, the Church has produced 155 video portraits of Mormons as part of the International campaign. Fifteen of those videos feature Mormons from the UK and Ireland. In addition to the 155 video portraits, there are 130,000 profile pages on Mormon.org created by individual Mormons who want to share their faith.

A television campaign using the "I'm a Mormon" theme, and featuring Australian Church members, appeared in South-Eastern Queensland 16 months ago. Australians can go to Mormon.org.au to view the ads that were created at that time and to access the profiles of other Church members from around the globe.

The advertisements in the UK invite viewers to “ask a Mormon,” and include statements of faith by Mormons such as “Jesus Christ is my compass” and “When I lost my way, God helped me find it.” The Church invites anyone with questions to "ask a Mormon" via mormon.org.uk or Twitter at twitter.com/AskAMormon.

The campaign is built on the premise that people come to best know and understand the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by getting to know its people.

In addition to the “I’m a Mormon” advertisements, the Church is also running adverts in theatre Playbills for The Book of Mormon Musical. They read, “You’ve seen the play, now read the book” or “The book is always better.”

There are more than 188,000 Church members throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. Church roots in the country date back to 1837 when missionaries first arrived in England.

Click on the video below to view reactions to the UK/Ireland "I'm a Mormon" campaign:

A Day in the Life of a Mormon Missionary in London

More than 65,000 Mormon missionaries are serving throughout the world, and many more are now preparing to serve. MormonNewsroom.org has published a video that gives a glimpse into the daily life of missionaries in London and the selfless service they give. Their packed daily schedules include teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, community service, study and exercise.