Written by Drive by a church in Singapore, and you can almost expect to see at least one banner strung up around its perimeter proclaiming God’s love for us all. While most of these messages are super wholesome and perfectly convey the extent of God’s love to educate non-believers out there.
One particular church in Singapore has taken their advertising to the next level by building on pop culture references and puns to catch the attention of passersby. We look at 5 genius banners done by Orchard Road Presbyterian Church (ORPC) in Dhoby Ghaut that are just too good to ignore.
1) The Avengers: Endgame banner
Image credit: Salt & Light
There might not have been a hunky Chris Evans in his Captain America skins fronting this church banner, but ORPC hit the bullseye with this execution and display mere days after the official release of Marvel’s hit flick Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
Not only were the Marvel logo and Avengers fonts matched to a T, the overall messaging and play on words were very fitting, making the banner quite the hit amongst Singaporeans.
2) The Wakanda Forever banner
Image credit: Beh Chia Lor – Singapore Road
There’s no denying the hype that surrounds the release of any Marvel flick, and the upcoming release of Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was a perfect opportunity for the ORPC banner ministry to pounce. In a very smart play on mandarin words, the banner recreates the pronunciation of “Wakanda” with the meaning “I look to Him”.
Image adapted from: Beh Chia Lor – Singapore Road
With every controversial execution, there are always critics. And in the case of ORPC’s marketing, there were some Singaporeans who criticised the church for “plagiarising” movie banners. Others applauded the church for its creativity and strokes of genius.
3) The Presidential Election banner
Image credit: Salt & Light
For a church that conjures new creative banners every month, ORPC’s winning strategy is clear: it banks on pop-culture and significant events on the calendar to hijack the conversation and stop people in their tracks. The 2017 presidential election was another golden opportunity for a show-stopping banner about placing your votes right.
4) The Game Of Thrones banner
Image credit: Salt & Light
Just a month before the presidential elections in the same year, came another banner that gave a nod to the hype growing around Season 7 of the ever-popular TV series, Game of Thrones (GOT).
Following in the style of their other movie-themed posters, the execution here was simple with a close-up background of the iconic GOT iron throne and a simple question. Needless to say, the font was on point as per usual.
5) The Kopitiam Chope banner
Image credit: Salt & Light
Singaporeans are all olympic seat chopers, especially in hawker centres with whatever non-valuable possessions we have, from lanyards and tissue packets to umbrellas. That’s why this particular banner hits quite close to home. Not only is the notion of “choping” fitting in this context, we love how bibles are the chosen items used to reserve the seats at this heavenly kopitiam.
The best of Orchard Road Presbyterian Church’s banners
For a church that comes up with a new banner every single month, Orchard Road Presbyterian Church’s are admirable and a good flex of wit. While some of their movie poster copied banners have the public debating whether or not it’s good marketing, ORPC must consider them all wins if their banners are at the epicenter of online discussions.
For more marketing content, read these:
- Local brands who are slaying it on TikTok
- Best ads at the Marketing Excellence Awards 2022
- McDonald’s campaigns that got Singaporeans to embarrass themselves
Cover image adapted from: Beh Chia Lor – Singapore Road, Salt & Light
