TUPELO, Miss., -- Late last month, AFA and its supporters notified both Sears and JCPenney that the portrayal of Jesus Christ as a revenge-seeking murderer is an affront to all people of faith, especially Christians. AFA urged Sears and its subsidiary Kmart in addition to JCPenney to pull their advertising from NBC.com's "Saturday Night Live."
Sears sent a letter to AFA, stating, "Thanks for bringing it to our attention, it wasn't supposed to happen and we're taking steps to make sure it doesn't happen again. Going forward our ads will not run in this form again around SNL." JCPenney did not advertise on the next SNL show and removed their ad from the NBC on-line version of the SNL episode.
The "SNL" skit that aired on Feb. 16 portrayed a post-resurrection Jesus Christ as a vengeful killer. The comedy sketch, which aired just four days into Lent, was a mock trailer of a film that its narrator described as "the ultimate historical revenge fantasy" and spoofed popular yet violent Quentin Tarantino films.
"He's risen from the dead," continued the narrator, "and he's preaching anything but forgiveness," as Christ, played by show host Christopher Waltz, is shown slaughtering Roman soldiers with a sword and a firearm.
Tim Wildmon, president of American Family Association, stated, "I look at the trash that JCPenney, Sears and others had endorsed and I can tell you that as long as corporations support this kind of offensive material, their sales are going to suffer as shoppers abandon retailers that support blasphemy. I hope folks can reinstate their patronage to these stores and that Sears and JCPenney can stick with the good decisions they have now made. When you embrace television programming with no morals, you can't possibly embrace the public you are trying to sell to. We applaud Sears and JCPenney for their wise action to stop funding damaging material such as the skit that mocked our Lord Jesus Christ on 'Saturday Night Live,' and we encourage our constituents to thank these retailers as well."
JCPenney sales have seen a steady decline, with the clothing and home goods company posting a loss of $4.3 billion in sales in the first year of Chief Executive Officer Ron Johnson's turnaround plan. Sales in the fourth quarter of 2012, which included holiday shopping, slid 28 percent to $3.88 billion.
For more information on American Family Association, visit www.afa.net.
