Christianity,  Culture

Surprised by the Lead Singer of The Killers

Has anybody out there ever been a fan of The Killers? I remember their hit song from the mid-2000’s “Mr. Brightside”, and in light of that song the video above is a complete surprise to me. This is not what I thought the lead singer would be like. You have to watch until the very end to get the last surprising twist. After you’ve done that, go read Mike Pohlman’s reflections on the meaning of all of this.

10 Comments

  • Jessi

    While I didn’t know this about him, it doesn’t surprise me at all. He’s from Vegas. I’m from Vegas. What people don’t realize about Vegas is that it is FILLED with Mormons. Most of the kids I went to school with were LDS. Every single high school has a Mormon “church” next to it so they can be close to the kids. That’s just the way it is.

    And this campaign doesn’t surprise me either. Mormons are trying hard to work the “hip” thing. Look at most of the lifestyle blogs out there. They are LDS couples or Mormon moms. I have to admit it, there is something about Mormons and their style. It can be appealing. But looks can be deceiving.

  • Chris Garner

    You’re killing me, Dr. Burk!

    I’m on my iPhone and just saw your tweet and clicked on the video without reading your comments first. I’ve always liked the Killers and was listening and was very happy about what I was hearing until that last line.

    I actually let out an audible “Dangit!”

  • Matt Svoboda

    Dr. Burk,

    I disagree with Pohlman’s reflections. While I do think it is unwise to do everything you can to make your religion “hip and cool” I don’t think that is what the Mormon church is doing. I think they are just trying to say, “Hey, we are normal people just like everyone else.”

    Most people have two dudes with white shirts, black pants, a tie, and a bag immediately come to mind with they think of the Mormon church. Now, is the Mormon church getting away from that? No- it is part of their mission. What they are doing is showing the other side of who they are- every day people that value life, family, and God.

    Most of the people in the “I am Mormon” videos are ordinary people. I think we are forcing intent into the motives of the people that do these videos. I dont think they are aiming for “hipness,” but rather are trying to bring down barriers by showing the “normalcy” of Mormons.

    I think this is a smart campaign. They are trying to get rid of old, negative thoughts people have when they think of the Mormon church. Isn’t that part of what the discussion about changing the name of the SBC is all about?

    There is nothing wrong with bringing down unnecessary barriers that people have to our faith. I think us Evangelicals could learn something from this.

    • Matt Svoboda

      Clarify: I agree with Pohlman that we want to bring them to Christ, not a brand. But if the brand is hurting us bringing them to Christ wouldn’t it be wise/1 Cor. 9/contextual to reimage the brand in order to bring them to Jesus? (just as the SBC is talking about doing with the name change)

  • John M. Harris

    Yikes! This is killin’ us…

    I think the SBC needs to do some ads like these, it would cost us hardly nothing to produce, just have one of our churches donate the tech & time and get ’em done. Pick the top 20 “wow I didn’t know those people go to an SBC church” people and bang them out, then put ’em on TV.

    The mormons are outshining us in this medium, it shouldn’t be so (Matt 5:16)

  • jigawatt

    The whole mainstream-Mormonism campaign seems to be well planned and at least somewhat effective. It remains to be seen if Denny’s previous post from David Murray turns out to be right.

    But I don’t think that the SBC and especially evangelicalism as a whole (whatever that means) could ever come close to this. We’re not top-down like the LDS is. Their organizational structure is particularly suited to campaigns like this.

  • donsands

    Good artist. Very good artist; and band. I have had more than a few run ins with Mormons, and would love to talk with this Mormon as well. Thanks for posting this. May our Lord open his heart to the truth of God’s Word, and the false prophet that Joe Smith is. Amen.

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