Where are the Catholics? Not in TV advertising

Published: 2008-02-28

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- It might be an appropriate Lenten sacrifice to go through the solemn season by not watching television. The flip side of that coin would be to watch a lot of TV and look for Catholic characters and characterizations in TV advertising. But it might require the sacrifice of a lot of time to sit through a lot of TV to find an actor in an ad portraying a Catholic. Thirty years ago, Brother Dominic won the hearts of the viewing public when a Xerox copier made his work making copies of sacred texts so much easier. "It's a miracle!" he uttered, looking heavenward. Brother Dominic proved to be so popular he appeared in print and other TV ads for Xerox. About 25 years ago, TV audiences got to see Cathy O'Reilly portray the seen-but-not-heard, bicycle-riding "Blue Nun" in ads for the German wine. She was eventually replaced by the husband and wife comedy team of Stiller and Meara, who proved to be more popular -- at least until Blue Nun and wines like it drifted out of favor with the public. Since then, seeing a Catholic portrayal in a TV ad has been so rare as to be almost nonexistent.

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