Focus Seeks to Capitalize On Tim Tebow, Will Now Run Ads During Denver Bronco Games

Man, Focus on the Family really, really loves Tim Tebow.

Just because they are laying off people left and right as they struggle to stay within its shrinking budget, it doesn’t mean that they can’t start running statewide ads during Denver Broncos games:

Focus on the Family denies that the crossover appeal of religious rookie quarterback Tim Tebow is the sole reason the conservative Christian ministry has, for the first time, bought statewide TV ads to air during Denver Broncos games.

But it didn’t hurt.

The Colorado Springs-based family-counseling ministry said it got a good package deal with Colorado CBS affiliates, including Denver’s KCNC-Channel 4, on ads that will run during more than a dozen games, beginning with this weekend’s preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Focus on the Family bought a Super Bowl ad featuring Tebow and liked the results.

“We saw from our Super Bowl advertising experience that, for a family-help organization like ours, football is a perfect place to advertise,” Focus vice president Gary Schneeberger said. “The Broncos are a real family tradition here on the Front Range.”

The ads are a logical extension of the Focus campaign to raise brand awareness among a new generation of young families that began with the Tebow ad, Schneeberger said.

He wouldn’t disclose specifics about the new campaign, except to say the ads won’t feature Tebow.

“They’re not political ads. They’re not religious ads,” Schneeberger said. “They will make people aware of the services Focus offers to help families thrive. They will make statements on social values and touch on the sanctity of life, but it would be a leap to say the ads will address family issues from a controversial standpoint.”