Church Prepares for Easter Initiative Following Christmas Video’s Success
Contributed By Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News associate editor; and Camille West, ChurchofJesusChrist.org Church News
In December, the Church's advertisements on billboards in New York City’s Times Square and in other cities relayed the love Latter-day Saints have for Jesus Christ.
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Following a successful Christmas media initiative that focused on the importance of the Savior’s birth, the Church is preparing to launch its 2016 Easter initiative toward the end of March.
Inspired by the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah, the Easter initiative will witness of the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and will include a social media collaboration with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
The video, which will be available in 29 languages, features millennial-age (18- to 34-year-old) women and men from around the world bearing witness of the living Christ and His importance in our lives today.
As with past Churchwide Christmas and Easter initiatives, the Church will encourage members to watch and share the video and then encourage others to visit a website where they can learn more about the Savior.
In December the Church reached millions of people worldwide through its social media efforts, outdoor advertising, displays in visitors’ centers, member and missionary tools, and online paid promotions that featured “A Savior Is Born,” a video inspired by Isaiah 9:6 from the Bible and George Frideric Handel's Messiah.
The Church's 2015 Christmas video featuring children from all over the world reciting scriptures about the Savior’s birth was viewed by 54.5 million people.
Focusing on declaring a witness of Jesus Christ to the world, the video was viewed by 54.5 million people in 198 countries and territories. The Spanish version had 28.1 million views, English had 15.1 million views, and Portuguese had 11.1 million views.
The video was so popular it made Advertising Age magazine's top 10 chart of viral Christmas videos, competing with videos from names like Samsung, Unicef, Toys R Us, and Wal-Mart.
This photo of the iconic Times Square crystal ball next to an “A Savior Is Born” billboard was shared by the city of New York and on Instagram New Year's Eve.
The message that members of the Church love, believe, and follow Jesus Christ was shared on billboards in New York City’s Times Square, Salt Lake City and St. George, Utah; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Los Angeles, California; and Mexico City, and atop 400 taxis in New York City. Because the billboards stayed up through January 2, they could easily been seen in the background of New Year’s Eve broadcasts from Times Square on ABC, NBC, Fox, and CNN.
The Christmas initiative also got a boost from these LDS artists and YouTube celebrities, who posted videos and encouraged their fans to watch and share “A Savior Is Born”: Jenny Oaks Baker, Ellie and Jared, the Gardiner Sisters, Lexi Mae Walker, Alex Boyé, Tiffany Alvord, Stuart Edge, Peter Hollens, Lindsey Stirling, the Piano Guys, David Archuleta, Nathan Pacheco, Maddie Wilson, Studio C, and the Shaytards.
LDS artists and YouTube celebrities like Peter Hollens posted new videos and encouraged their fans to watch and share “A Savior Is Born” using #ASaviorIsBorn.
