Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” video garnered 35 million views on YouTube shortly after its release. So did the teaser trailer for Avengers: The Age of Ultron. As did Gangnam Style artist Psy’s “Gentleman.”
And so did the Church of Scientology 2023 Super Bowl ad. Originally aired during the Super Bowl in limited markets, the ad has taken on a life and momentum of its own on the social media platform.
What is going on here? True, the ad, entitled “You Can Live Again,” features an original song of the same name, but it’s not a Taylor Swift song. And yes, the production values are superb, but this isn’t a Marvel Cinematic Universe presentation. The video doesn’t open with a zombie scene—as in Taylor Swift’s video—nor does it feature cataclysms, explosions and the end of life on this planet, as in the Avengers teaser, nor does it invite you to tap your feet or hum along to a brain-numbing beat, as in Psy’s Gentleman.
So with no big names, big explosions, catchy beat or even a zombie to help it along, how did this video soar in the charts?
Possibly it was the message of hope that permeated it.
Possibly there was something in what was said—“It’s there within you, something that can never die”—that resonated.
Possibly tens of millions of viewers needed someone to reassure them—which the narrator does—that “nothing is more powerful than you.”
And possibly it was the truth that anything dead—even hope—can live again, not as a zombie, but as something proud, powerful and immortal.
Possibly the Church of Scientology, through the video and its message, has tapped into something—something not so new or astounding or loud or garish or sensational or explosive or toe-tapping, as it is simply needed.