Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Hulu had the nerve to reject a church’s advertisement promoting weeknight church services as “religious indoctrination.”
Does Hulu believe that none of its subscribers is a Christian or interested in attending church? I wonder whether Hulu would reject a mosque’s advertisement to promote its services.
First Liberty Institute represents the Hulen Street Church in Fort Worth, Texas, which promoted weekday services for people who work on Sundays. From First Liberty:
To advertise its new service time, the church created a 22-second video ad in which Pastor Wes Hamilton extends a short invitation. The church successfully placed its ad through Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads, but despite seeming to fit Hulu’s announced advertising policy, Hulu rejected the ad twice.
Maybe it was the backlash, or maybe Hulu realized how stupid it was to reject ads for religious services as indoctrination. But the streaming service backtracked and approved the ad.
“We are grateful to Hulu for its quick response to our demand letter and for accepting Hulen Street Church’s ad,” said Jeremy Dys, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute. “In the future, Hulu—and others in Big Tech—could avoid these kinds of conflicts by adopting advertising policies that do not discriminate against religious organizations, being transparent about its advertising policy, and applying it fairly.”
