Bishop Eddie Long apparently has a great deal of support from members of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. A new billboard of Long has appeared in Atlanta, with the words "Love Like Him, Live Like Him, Lead Like Him." Some in the community have interpreted these to be the words of Jesus, but others are wondering if another message is being sent by the supporters of Bishop Eddie Long.
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On one hand, we could easily argue that those who've built this ill-timed billboard are most certainly talking about Jesus with their words. The problem, however, is that they don't have a picture of Jesus next to the words. Instead, there is a picture of Bishop Eddie Long. If Long's supporters were trying to communicate the words of Jesus, they should probably have considered including a picture of the person to whom they were referring.
In business school, we teach a concept called "co-branding." Now, I'm no marketing expert, but simply put, co-branding is effectively the act of strengthening one's brand name by connecting it with another. For example, there is a reason that Nike pays LeBron James millions of dollars every year. By associating their brand with his name and face, they are elevating the value of their own product.
The same is true when connecting a disgraced public figure like Bishop Eddie Long with the name of Jesus. Jesus is probably the most valuable brand in the history of the world - as perfect, pristine and respected as you can get. So, by using Jesus' words and putting them next to the face of Bishop Eddie Long, his supporters expect that they are scoring a public relations touchdown.
What's most sad about this billboard is that there are many people who will be fooled by it. The deep commitment that many Americans have to God and Jesus can sometimes be utilized by those with malevolent objectives. I can't say for sure if Eddie Long is the person behind the billboard or whether he's guilty of the terrible actions for which he's being accused. What I can say, though, is that in the event that a person in the pulpit may be doing harm to our children, we cannot allow our commitment to a higher power to make us both blind and ignorant.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.
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