Yes, ladies and gentlemen…the folks at WalMart are recognizing the buying power of Mormons, and are filling that with a glorious bronzed hornsman…complete with a tennis visor.
So how do you all feel about marketing efforts towards church members? Off shoot of church’s marketing plan as suggested by Deseret News? Tacky? Priestcraft? Necessary and welcome? Will you be buying a bronzed hornsman for your relatives this Christmas?
November 22, 2004 at 1:39 am
Aaron B,
If you promise to put that Angel Morini on your primary car as a hood ornament, I will buy it for you.
It is just too bad they don’t knock two cents off the price and then BYU football fans could relive the glory days while purchasing it.
November 22, 2004 at 3:59 am
And just like that, Aaron clams up. I guess the Moroni would look disproportionately large on the hood of his Yugo.
Seriously, though, doesn’t this strike anyone as a form of idolatry? Weird, evil stuff.
November 22, 2004 at 1:38 am
Anyone purchased a uniquely LDS olive-wood carving in Jerusalem? I’m trying to remember the name of the guy there who carves them.
November 23, 2004 at 12:05 am
darn, I think thou art correct, Steve….thine grammatical intuition hast impressed me. Or is it thy grammatical intuition?
November 22, 2004 at 11:44 pm
Hey Karen, isn’t it THINE arrival?
November 22, 2004 at 11:10 pm
I can’t wait to get my first issue of the Book of Mormon comic.
November 22, 2004 at 1:13 am
I have never seen anything more beautiful, nor more appropriate. The greatest stocking stuff for the entire family, indeed!!
I think Dave’s right. It was only a matter of time before this stuff started to hit us. I have a feeling that as the Church continues to internationalize this phenomenon will only continue.
November 22, 2004 at 11:39 am
I quote directly from Robert Kirby’s Marketing the Faith:
“A couple of months ago I was in K-Mart looking for a bath mat when I stumbled onto something even better: shot glasses and beer mugs with the Salt Lake Temple embossed on them.
Maybe it was the ironic juxtaposition of holy edifice and devil’s swill that piqued my interest, or maybe it’s just that I’m a sicko. Anyway, I bought a set of shot glasses. That night, I introduced my kids to a new Kirby family tradition – root beer shooters.”
He then goes on to list some other items people might be induced to drop some after-tax, after-tithing cash on, like Gadianton robber action figures, liahona compasses for RVs and boats, and GA pogs and slammers.
But my personal favorite, and something no well-appointed LDS home could possibly be without, is a This Is The Place door mat.
November 22, 2004 at 2:47 am
I second ARJ’s challenge to AB. I’ll pitch in for shipping.
November 21, 2004 at 5:00 pm
I’m rather disappointed. I was hoping for an Angel Moroni Tree Topper.
November 22, 2004 at 3:07 pm
I’m still kicking myself for not buying the portrait of Pres. and Sis. Hinckley *on black velvet* that I saw at the fair in Provo last summer. eeeeeuw.
I have to say, though, that my revulsion at these things is probably just class-based snootiness, and not any genuine religious objection. The religious argument against idols just makes me feel better about being a snob. (Alas)
November 22, 2004 at 4:41 pm
If people started installing Moroni hood ornaments they would just get stolen and dangled from the chunk-jewelry-laden necks of Provo street thugs and Mormon rap artists.
Personally, I’m holding out for a musical version with a motion sensor that plays “Press Forward Saints” when someone walks past, like a faith-promoting version of Big Mouth Billy.
November 22, 2004 at 5:32 am
Personally I don’t like to buy this kind of stuff, kind of makes me think of “idol worship” and although some of the items are neat, they are more or less just clutter items. Really, how many of us really need one of these?
However, I don’t think it is bad that people are marketing items towards our faith. Afterall, we started doing it ourselves, and all these “Mormon” movies that keep coming out are just going to add fuel to the fire.
November 23, 2004 at 1:04 am
remind me to tell you about the creepy Quaker in-laws I have that use “thee” all the time? Even when they should use “thous”? Exceedingly creepy, I say to thee.
November 22, 2004 at 3:28 pm
There is always someone willing to make a buck off the Saints, and as the rest of the article points out, it is only going to get worse.
November 22, 2004 at 6:19 am
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Deseret Book sells Angel Moroni tree-toppers for Christmas.
There are Russian nesting dolls available of the prophets (though it’s only the “greatest hits” prophets – President Hinckley, McKay, Brigham Young, etc. Don’t forget the Nephite/Lamanite chess set (I hope Nate Oman finds that under his tree this year).
I don’t know if it’s evil, but it’s pretty weird. People just get obsessive about things that are important to them and put what they can in tangible objects. It doesn’t seem all that different than the Star Wars fan with the model Millenium Falcon.
My all-time favorite Mormon kitsch item: When Bill Clinton was President, bumper stickers were available that read, “Gordon B. Hinckley is *my* President.” Good times.
November 22, 2004 at 1:39 pm
To me it was the LLadro Cristus that really kicked this whole thing off. Since it wasn’t tacky it seemed to be a big seller, but to me it always had a hint of idolatry to it. If I have an idol and I don’t pray to it, is it ok? I can guarantee you that some poor member somewhere has prayed to a LLadro Cristus in time of need.
November 22, 2004 at 3:40 pm
Wal-Mart sucks. They’re such an evil evil corporation. So even if I were Mormon I wouldn’t buy a bronzed hornsman from there.
November 21, 2004 at 10:35 pm
What goes around, comes around. The Church has been using PR and marketing campaigns for decades now to target its missionary message to “the gentiles.” Now PR and marketing gurus are starting to use Mormon culture as a vehicle for marketing commercial products in all their varieties to Mormons. Personally, I’m waiting for the GA line of bobbleheads to come out.
November 21, 2004 at 6:07 pm
Wow! I didn’t read the article; does it say how tall the Angel Moroni is? I would love to glue one to the hood of my car. It would be like a Mormon Rolls-Royce. Wouldn’t that be just the coolest?
Aaron B
November 22, 2004 at 2:58 am
Yeah, I’m not actually going to pitch in for anything, but Aaron, I double dog dare you!
November 22, 2005 at 9:47 am
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November 23, 2005 at 2:39 pm
This is sweet! (I didn’t about the BCC when this was posted.) I’m getting one of those mats.
And danithew, the guy who sells LDS olivewood figures (not idolatry, IMO) at the expense of his other Christian customers who get offended becuase of them, is Omar. That is all I know. But the Jerusalem center might be able to give you his number.
November 24, 2005 at 12:26 pm
While it is kind of weird. I wouldnt put this under idolatry. I always thought of Idolatry as loving money or something more than christ your family or your fellow men.
October 3, 2006 at 9:32 pm
“And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you…”
2 Peter 2:3
I’ve always been bothered by “mormon merchandising.” It reeks of priestcraft to me.
October 6, 2006 at 9:47 pm
I just now returned from a visit to a house (in Provo no less) that prominently displayed the Glorious Bronzed Hornsman. It was quite the experience. The horn does not actually attach to his lips. In fact the mouthpiece is to one side of his forehead, which makes the whole thing a bit off. It did look a bit too fragile to place on Aarons hood.
October 6, 2006 at 11:56 pm
Is that how they blow horns in China?
October 7, 2006 at 5:17 pm
I actually lifted it up and looked at the base when nobody was watching. Yes, I am a terrible guest. It was made in the Philippines.
October 15, 2006 at 1:41 am
Why is anyone surprised that Wal Mart would try to get in on a few more bucks? They have sold the bible and the coran for years…no one seemed to mind…but if it’s mormon in nature then it’s not a good thing. Bear in mind not all professed Christians are christian in their behaviour, or budhist, or (and the list goes on ad infinitum) I dunno, with all this attention specifically pointed at either refuting or supporting mormonism, the must have something there or no one would pay any attention. Think I’ll look into it…I believe Christ wasn’t to revered in his time either…took over 2000 years and commercialization for him to be accepted.
December 4, 2006 at 7:55 am
Hmmm…I found this website because I was LOOKING for info on how to buy a treetop Moroni. My mother always has wanted to have an angel on the tree, while my dad has complained that real angels don’t have wings and all the treetop angels you can buy do. So I thought with Moroni on the tree they could both be happy. My husband thinks it’s a cheesy idea, but then, he didn’t really like the glass temple I wanted on our wedding cake either. Oh, I should point out that we do not live in Provo, or even Utah. The fam is in PA and husband, kids, and myself hail from Wisconsin.