Tuesday, October 21, 2008 | Reason : In the News | print version

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All aboard the atheist bus campaign

by Ariane Sherine, Guardian

Reposted from:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/21/religion-advertising

It's real, it's happening: you can sponsor the first atheist advert on a bus — and Richard Dawkins will match your money

bus sign

The godless move in mysterious ways: what the atheist bus campaign's advert will look like.

The atheist bus campaign launches today thanks to Comment is free readers. Because of your enthusiastic response to the idea of a reassuring God-free advert being used to counter religious advertising, the slogan "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life" could now become an ad campaign on London buses — and leading secularists have jumped on board to help us raise the money.

The British Humanist Association will be administering all donations to the campaign, and Professor Richard Dawkins, bestselling author of The God Delusion, has generously agreed to match all contributions up to a maximum of £5,500, giving us a total of £11,000 if we raise the full amount. This will be enough to fund two sets of atheist adverts on 30 London buses for four weeks.

If the buses hit the road, this will be the UK's first ever atheist advertising campaign. It's an exciting development, which I never expected when I first proposed the idea on Cif in June. Back then, I was just keen to counter the religious ads running on public transport, which featured a URL to a website telling non-Christians they would spend "all eternity in torment in hell", burning in "a lake of fire". When I suggested the atheist counter-slogan (now shortened for readability), the response was extremely positive, and hundreds of you pledged your support after the follow-up article.

As you read this, a new advertising campaign for Alpha Courses is running on London buses. If you attend an Alpha Course, you will again be told that failing to believe in Jesus will condemn you to hell. There's no doubt that advertising can be effective, and religious advertising works particularly well on those who are vulnerable, frightening them into believing. Religious organisations' jobs are made easier because there's no publicly visible counter-view to refute their threats of eternal damnation.

The atheist bus campaign aims to change this. In addition to the slogan, the adverts will feature the URLs of secular, humanist and atheist websites, so that readers can find out more about atheism as a positive and liberating alternative to religion. We've also set up an interactive campaign website and Facebook group, so that questions raised by the adverts can be publicly debated.

CBS Outdoor, the bus advertising company, will run the atheist adverts in January if the funds are raised — but we need your help to make this happen.

Your donations will give atheism a more visible presence in the UK, generate debate, brighten people's day on the way to work, and hopefully encourage more people to come out as atheists. As Richard Dawkins says: "This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think — and thinking is anathema to religion."

To donate to the atheist bus campaign, please visit here.

Posted: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 | Permalink

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1. Comment #267991 by Twopints on October 21, 2008 at 10:30 am

They've already raised over £31,000 on the first day, keep donating at http://www.justgiving.com/atheistbus and this thing can go national.

Other Comments by Twopints

2. Comment #267998 by themanchoo on October 21, 2008 at 10:35 am

I'd love to see the reaction to this!! I've thrown a tenner into the pot.

Other Comments by themanchoo

3. Comment #268001 by Cluebot on October 21, 2008 at 10:36 am

Bravo Richard, this is good stuff! :)

Other Comments by Cluebot

4. Comment #268006 by faouloki on October 21, 2008 at 10:41 am

what a fantastic response, I can't wait to see these

Other Comments by faouloki

5. Comment #268008 by Matt H. on October 21, 2008 at 10:41 am

The total is going up by about £1,000 every hour! I donated £10, would have given more if I could afford it. There are some people giving hundreds, AC Grayling gave £500 and Charlie Brooker gave a bit too!

Other Comments by Matt H.

6. Comment #268009 by Baron Scarpia on October 21, 2008 at 10:43 am

I have to love the 'Now stop worrying' message. It says a great deal in only three words. (I do worry if some could find it patronising, though)

Anyway, I've made my donation.

Other Comments by Baron Scarpia

7. Comment #268010 by thatgingerscouser on October 21, 2008 at 10:44 am

Done! This is great! Herding cats, indeed...

Other Comments by thatgingerscouser

8. Comment #268021 by Rawhard Dickins on October 21, 2008 at 10:52 am

Great!

Now how about TEACH FACT NOT FAITH

Other Comments by Rawhard Dickins

9. Comment #268026 by tvictor on October 21, 2008 at 10:54 am

this is BEYOND awesome

Other Comments by tvictor

10. Comment #268030 by Cluebot on October 21, 2008 at 10:58 am

Now, how long before some idiot gets injured trying to deface them?

Other Comments by Cluebot

11. Comment #268037 by ukantic on October 21, 2008 at 11:00 am

Someone I know had a fleet of Dublin buses plastered in advertising for vibrators!

See: http://www.emotionalbliss.co.uk/blog/page/5/

Moan Moan Moan!

Other Comments by ukantic

12. Comment #268038 by Jabberwoc on October 21, 2008 at 11:02 am

At last..proof that I'm NOT alone!

Other Comments by Jabberwoc

13. Comment #268041 by MedMonkey on October 21, 2008 at 11:03 am

Ahhh love it! I wish I could donate more ... damn loans/debt :(

Other Comments by MedMonkey

14. Comment #268043 by mrjohnno on October 21, 2008 at 11:04 am

Been on the BEEB site since 12:30 or so.

I said to theist this very day.. You don't convert to atheism, you recover from theism.

Johnno

Other Comments by mrjohnno

15. Comment #268044 by Big City on October 21, 2008 at 11:06 am

I feel like this advert makes us look like hedonists.

Other Comments by Big City

16. Comment #268048 by root2squared on October 21, 2008 at 11:09 am

Way to encourage faith in public transportation!

:)

Other Comments by root2squared

17. Comment #268053 by amalthea on October 21, 2008 at 11:16 am

yeah, herding cats. Difficult until you have a ball of catnip :)

And the response to the appeal is amazing. As of writing, though the target was £5,500 (to be matched by Prof Dawkins (thanks for that). So far the total is (refreshes page) £32,801.66

I wonder if the overspill will be used to advertise on more buses, or the tube, or used to help publicise the Council of ex-Muslims? Pretty much anything they're going to do will be ok with me.

Anyway, money where my mouth is.. you has it

A

Other Comments by amalthea

18. Comment #268055 by ficklefiend on October 21, 2008 at 11:17 am

Excellent, excellent, excellent.

I love the slogan because it's so positive. We don't hate god, we love life!

Other Comments by ficklefiend

19. Comment #268057 by ZT on October 21, 2008 at 11:18 am

I certainly hope that this is a turning point and that this spreads out accross the UK and onto billboards and television.

top quality stuff, certainly will be forwarding the link to boost awareness of the oportunity to help fund this cause.

Other Comments by ZT

20. Comment #268064 by koruth on October 21, 2008 at 11:33 am

Wish I could donate, but it seems my American dollars are rather useless...

And besides, the campaign is already over, the goal already met! Congratulations everyone!

Other Comments by koruth

21. Comment #268067 by Russell's Teapot on October 21, 2008 at 11:35 am

I'm not British, so I'm technically not allowed to say this, but that's bloody brilliant.

Other Comments by Russell's Teapot

22. Comment #268072 by Sciros on October 21, 2008 at 11:38 am

koruth, don't worry, the British pound fell along with the American dollar. It's 1.7 GBP to $1 now, which is better than the 2:1 ratio we had a couple of years ago.

Other Comments by Sciros

23. Comment #268073 by mismos00 on October 21, 2008 at 11:42 am

'There "probably" is no God' is not definitive enough (too wishy-washy - even if it is philosophically correct - it doesn't sound good) and the 'so stop worrying and enjoy life' is too, like another poster said, too hedonist.

It may as well have said 'Don't worry about God, drink and fuck like animals', which is a tone that is easily criticized.

Nice try though.

Other Comments by mismos00

24. Comment #268075 by Quetzalcoatl on October 21, 2008 at 11:44 am

mismos00-

'There "probably" is no God' is not definitive enough

If they had suggested that, then half the herd of cats would have objected and turned on the other half! ;)

Other Comments by Quetzalcoatl

25. Comment #268077 by gf ferre on October 21, 2008 at 11:46 am

I loved the idea but this is not enough...!!!

We should put lcd televisions on those buses and play "planet of the apes" without stopping.

Recent scientific findings show that watching "planet of the apes" for more than 10 days leads to a random mutation in humans and they start to show ape-like behaviours.

Other Comments by gf ferre

26. Comment #268080 by Matt H. on October 21, 2008 at 11:51 am

koruth, the original target may have been met but the campaign is not over! More money means more adverts, and more buses outside London!

Other Comments by Matt H.

27. Comment #268083 by JernJane on October 21, 2008 at 11:53 am

Fantastic!! I hope that can happen in the US one day!

Other Comments by JernJane

28. Comment #268084 by mismos00 on October 21, 2008 at 11:58 am

But the whole quote comes off as sophomoric and very cavalier toward the subject.

"There probably is no God" sounds like something an atheist who hasn't thought much about the subject would say. I'm just thinking from a religious persons POV and I believe they would think that we aren't looking at religion/god/whatever seriously or critically enough.

If I said to you "Let me take your child for a ride on my motorcycle. He probably won't die" that word 'probably' probably wouldn't persuade you to allow him to hop on my bike and this IS a life or death matter for the religious.

I like the idea - not the execution. Atheists need to hire more PR people.

Other Comments by mismos00

29. Comment #268085 by Animavore on October 21, 2008 at 11:59 am

Sorry I would donate but I'm as poor as a badger and I'm not going to donate the last of my money like that foolish woman in the parable.
Maybe in a couple of weeks when I get paid ;)

Other Comments by Animavore

30. Comment #268087 by theonlybap on October 21, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Aren't most people aspiring hedonists? Pleasure is subjective, and I don't think it's limited to orgies and drink. Who doesn't want to enjoy life?

Other Comments by theonlybap

31. Comment #268088 by Baron Scarpia on October 21, 2008 at 12:00 pm

I don't see the slogan as hedonist, myself. I think you'd have to stretch rather far for that.

I am in favour of the 'probably'. After all, we don't know for sure, and it's a mild dig at churches telling us that there is CERTAINLY a god; we are prepared to admit otherwise, if evidence comes up.

Of course, no good evidence has come up since the dawn of man, but we have to give it a chance, don't we? :-)

Other Comments by Baron Scarpia

32. Comment #268089 by amalthea on October 21, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Agreed Matt! The campaign isn't over until the goals are reached. The wider the campaign reaches, the more press it gets, the more publicity it generates outside this forum, the more awareness is spread that it's OK not to believe in unicorns and gods and faeries.

Hope this goes nationwide in the UK. Also hope it has a knock-on effect in Europe.

A

EDIT: Having said that, no idea if this kinda thing would work in the US. Someone would probably end up in jail. How about you Australians on the forum? What're your feelings on this working over there?

Other Comments by amalthea

33. Comment #268090 by Sciros on October 21, 2008 at 12:01 pm

Yeah I'm with mismos00 here. That's a pretty pathetic advertisement to put on a bus. Even something along the lines of "life and the universe are far more grand and complex than religion allows you to imagine" (idk... came up with that just now) would be more attractive to me. Anyway, even a rubbish attempt is better than no attempt at all, I suppose.

Other Comments by Sciros

34. Comment #268095 by Styrer- on October 21, 2008 at 12:05 pm

Action! Terrific. This is great news.

Much applause also due to Richard for magnanimously putting his money where his mouth is.

This one is going to be fun to follow.

Best,
Styrer

Other Comments by Styrer-

35. Comment #268096 by The Soilworker on October 21, 2008 at 12:06 pm

This would be a great idea for many American cities such as mine (Atlanta) where NO ONE rides the bus (typcial gas guzzling americans), therefore they would CONSTANTLY be outside the bus reading the advert.

I do my own guerilla posting around my campus (at the protest of my poor printer cartridge) in our parking decks. Since I know hundreds of students will be seeing the columns and doors and stairwells of the decks, I plaster signs everywhere, knowing full well that they will get ripped down in a matter of hours. We can all do our part!

Other Comments by The Soilworker

36. Comment #268099 by Michael_Oudenalder on October 21, 2008 at 12:09 pm

Too bad they only accept credit card, or else I would've definately donated =) Someone even donated £1,000.00!! Amazing campaign. Love the positive attitude the ad gives.

Michael

Other Comments by Michael_Oudenalder

37. Comment #268101 by cat on October 21, 2008 at 12:15 pm

OK! I've done my part! The fundraising ends somewhere on April 2009, so probably I'll come back again...

I hope to see this in Canada, too.

Other Comments by cat

38. Comment #268102 by amalthea on October 21, 2008 at 12:16 pm

I think the tagline has a positive feel to it.
It's not dissing any particular religion, and it's also a pull towards the links to sites like this one. Can't be a bad thing surely?

Also, it's not preaching or judgemental. That's definitely a good thing. Just encouraging folks to think.

Alternatively, let's have a little go at providing an alternative shall we? You have 11-12 words to get the message across, not be illegal or profane, draw pwople into a discussion and not an argument, and be pleasant about it.

Let's go...........

A

Other Comments by amalthea

39. Comment #268103 by Prankster on October 21, 2008 at 12:18 pm

Is this strong enough? Taking the "probably" out of the slogan would make it firmer I think-or will it upset some religious factions having such a definite statement plastered over public transport?

It's too wishy-washy and too dare I say it "british" and it looks like it's trying to hard not to offend religites.

However donation gladly made...

Other Comments by Prankster

40. Comment #268104 by mbobo on October 21, 2008 at 12:19 pm

Had a billboard here in Philly for a while... Enjoying the bus idea though, mobility thing I guess. "Soilworker", the avatar is great!!!

Other Comments by mbobo

41. Comment #268105 by Ian on October 21, 2008 at 12:19 pm

Thanks to everyone who set this up and Richard, for stumping up some readies yourself.

I put £20 in. More to come if it works out well.

Other Comments by Ian

42. Comment #268112 by Peter_on_Sax on October 21, 2008 at 12:27 pm

As the fund has exceeded its target, I would like to see some of the money used to research the public response to the campaign. To what extent is the message patronizing? Is it simply hedonistic to "enjoy your life"? Will Londoners have fun at the expense of morality or will they find the "morality within" and take pleasure in applying it in their own lives? I support the campaign and look forward to quantified feedback.

Other Comments by Peter_on_Sax

43. Comment #268114 by alabasterocean on October 21, 2008 at 12:28 pm

Watch Discovery Channel on Sundays

-for people who just goes one God further

It's informative!!!

I like this one for Sam Harris (& Co) 'Reason Project'

Other Comments by alabasterocean

44. Comment #268117 by lol mahmood on October 21, 2008 at 12:31 pm

This is a great idea, btw. It's not too 'in-yer-face', but the loony fringe of faithheads will still manage to find it offensive. If they're needlessly offended, I'm happy;)

Other Comments by lol mahmood

45. Comment #268124 by Dr Doctor on October 21, 2008 at 12:37 pm

BBC:

But Stephen Green of pressure group Christian Voice said: "Bendy-buses, like atheism, are a danger to the public at large.

"I should be surprised if a quasi-religious advertising campaign like this did not attract graffiti.

"People don't like being preached at. Sometimes it does them good, but they still don't like it."

...........................

Other Comments by Dr Doctor

46. Comment #268132 by JakethePeg on October 21, 2008 at 12:49 pm

Anyone wondering why the word "probably" was added to the slogan can get more info here:

http://www.atheistcampaign.org/

Other Comments by JakethePeg

47. Comment #268134 by JAMCAM87 on October 21, 2008 at 12:49 pm

Just donated a measly £5. But I am a student so please forgive me.

Other Comments by JAMCAM87

48. Comment #268139 by NewEnglandBob on October 21, 2008 at 12:53 pm

Sorry, but crass commercialism instead of thoughtful reason does not seem to be the way to go.

How about using money for good; Something like feeding the hungry or medical care. That would be something I would stand behind and cheer on.

Other Comments by NewEnglandBob

49. Comment #268142 by j.mills on October 21, 2008 at 12:55 pm

Bunged 'em GBP100. Delighted to see that someone donated GBP666! :)

I love it that you just hit 'Refresh' and the total goes up! And the donor's names and comments are fun, such as the one from God: "Just to show I can suffer criticism!"

Other Comments by j.mills

50. Comment #268143 by Boozer on October 21, 2008 at 1:00 pm