Saturday, August 2, 2008

Atheists don't believe (in advertising)

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A mock-up photo showing how the atheist advert would have looked

Mock-up photo showing how the atheist advert would have looked

A campaign to put an atheist advert on the side of a London bus looks to be dead after the organisers failed to raise enough cash.

Campaigners hoped to raise the raise the £23,400 necessary to buy a prominent two-week slot on a “bendy bus” by collecting £5 pledges from atheists online.

They even made a mock-up photo of a bus carrying their chosen message: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and get on with your life."

The project attracted huge attention on atheist message boards and was even featured on the website of scientist and prominent atheist Richard Dawkins, but it appears that too few non-believers actually put their hands in their pockets.

A specially-created website had attracted only 877 pledges when its deadline passed on Thursday, far short of the 4,678 people needed.

The month-long campaign, headed by political blogger Jon Worth, was started in reaction to the Christian adverts that are currently carried on the side of many buses in the capital.

The religious adverts carry Biblical quotes such as: "When the son of man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" and direct readers to the JESUSsaid.org website.

The adverts are funded by a group based in Twickenham called Proclaiming Truth in London, according to the website.

It is not yet clear whether Mr Worth plans to use the money pledged - £4,385 - to fund a smaller, cheaper advert. The Telegraph

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