Advertising • Super Bowl

LERMA/ Produces Two New ‘He Gets Us’ Super Bowl 2024 Commercials

10 months ago
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The organization is operating under new ownership led by a former Domino’s and Wendy’s chief marketing officer
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“He Gets Us,” the ad campaign centered around rebranding Jesus for the contemporary world, will be returning to the Super Bowl this year, a spokesman for the campaign confirmed.

The new spots will be different than the pair that aired last year, according to the spokesman, who said the campaign will emphasize “loving your neighbor like Jesus did,” which will be the framework for all future work this year.

Previous ads in the campaign featured black-and-white images and told various stories of people dealing with conflict or adversity, relating modern societal issues to the way Jesus is portrayed in the Bible.

The ads will once again be created by Lerma/, which handled the client’s 2023 Super Bowl campaign debut. A 60-second ad will air in the first quarter and a 15-second one will air in the second half. The ads will also appear on Univision’s Spanish-language simulcast of the game.

Pedro Lerma, CEO & Founder at LERMA/ shared on Linked In, “As we celebrate ‘He Gets Us’ in its third year and its triumphant return to the Super Bowl stage, we are honored to share Jesus’ powerful message of forgiveness, unity, and love. In a world divided, we strive to inspire a future united through compassion. Well done, team LERMA/.”

New leadership

A newly formed nonprofit called Come Near now spearheads the initiative, according to the spokesman. “He Gets Us” was previously funded and overseen by the non-profit Servant Foundation, which also does business as an organization called the Signatry.

The previous campaign was criticized by some because of its affiliation with the Servant Foundation, which reportedly donated millions of dollars to the Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit that has led policy fights to roll back abortion rights and allow businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ+ customers.

Watch last year’s “He Gets Us” Super Bowl commercials

Last year’s Super Bowl ads themselves were also polarizing and garnered both positive and negative attention according to metrics from marketing analytics firm Sprinklr.

The Come Near nonprofit has a board of directors and a team of five employees led by Ken Calwell as its CEO. Calwell has previously held positions as CEO of pizza chain Papa Murphy’s and as chief marketing officer of Domino’s and Wendy’s. He most recently served as the CMO of non-profit Compassion International, which focuses on helping children in poverty “in Jesus’s name,” according to the organization’s website.

Come Near doesn’t appear to have a website, but does have a LinkedIn profile.

The change was “necessary” for “He Gets Us” to grow rather than as a response to the negative press the previous affiliation garnered, the spokesman said.

“[He Gets Us] moved a lot faster than I think many people could have envisioned, and so this new momentum, the plans harnessing the increased interest, it really necessitated the need for more structure and a fully dedicated leadership team who would be responsible to take ‘He Gets Us’ into the future,” the spokesman told Ad Age.

While the spokesman said that the Come Near nonprofit doesn’t have ties to the Servant Foundation, he said the nonprofit could accept donations from the Servant Foundation or similar organizations.

“[Come Near] may choose to accept donations from any donor-advised fund, any private individual, anything like that. But the relationship in the past was ‘He Gets Us’ was an initiative of the Servant Foundation. So fundraising had to flow through the Servant Foundation. That is not the same,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman declined to offer specifics on donors for the nonprofit and provided the following statement: “He Gets Us is supported by a growing group of individuals and entities who have a common goal to highlight the relatable life and unconditional love of Jesus. The movement is not funded by or affiliated with any single individual, political position, church, or faith denomination. Many choose to support ‘He Gets Us’ through common third-party charitable vehicles such as donor-advised funds.”

On Feb. 10, the day before the Super Bowl, “He Gets Us,” in partnership with faith-based nonprofit LV Reach, The Salvation Army and Wahlburgers, plans to host an event to provide free groceries to families in an underserved Las Vegas neighborhood.

Check out the OOH on the Las Vegas strip this week.

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