Mormons and Muslims have something new in common

You're in 21st-century America, and you're part of a religious movement that is often misunderstood and seen in a negative light. So what do you do? Start an ad campaign, of course, and back that up with an Internet presence.

A few weeks ago, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints launched TV ads in a few cities and also has more heavily promoted a web site, Mormon.org. Here's a sample of the approach:

More recently, a new Muslim group has started a campaign, My Faith My Voice:

Obviously, there are some different objectives at play. The Mormon campaign has a low-key proselytizing goal, while the Muslim campaign seems more aimed at countering marginalization or, worse, persecution (although the LDS ads, too, seem to have an anti-marginalization goal). The LDS campaign also is more clearly a higher-budget operation, carried out as it is by the denomination rather than as an independent, maybe ad hoc effort that the Muslim campaign is.

But the two campaigns have one thing in common, and that's this message: We might be different than you are in some ways, but we're normal people, and not all of us fit the stereotype you have of us. We're not a threat, and we're not here to force our religion on you. In fact, if you took the time to know us, you might even find we have a lot in common.

Are such ads effective in swaying public opinion? I don't know — but my guess is that in the long run they're effective only as long as they coincide with reality. You can advertise all you want that New Coke has a better flavor, but if people don't like it you may be forced to return to the classic version regardless of what you spend on ads. Similarly, if American Muslims don't clearly denounce the extremist elements of their religion, their words will ring hollow. Or if you visit your neighborhood LDS church and see you're the only one who couldn't find yourself on the cover of a 1950s Family Living magazine, the ads will seem like little more than bait-and-switch.

Most Americans don't personally know any Muslims, and outside the U.S. West, most Americans have no friends they know are Mormon. Such ads can be one step toward opening up understanding — but they'll fall flat if they don't match what people experience.