When Pedro Lerma left The Richards Group in 2020 to go independent with his namesake firm, he did so with one mission in mind: “To channel creativity for good,” he says. Over the last year, he has led his firm, LERMA/, to grow its billings and fees by 63 percent and its staff by 50 percent. The unpopular task of rebranding Jesus has fueled some of that growth.
LERMA/’s client on the campaign is He Gets Us, a low-profile, high-budget nonprofit driven in part by the billionaire family behind Hobby Lobby. The campaign launched in 2022, and ad placements have been found across the world, including on the Las Vegas Strip, Times Square, and all over AT&T Stadium on Dallas Cowboys game days. Super Bowl commercials in the last two years have sparked much attention, controversy, and discussion.
“We were approached by a group of donors who felt like Christianity had evolved into having a bad reputation,” Lerma says. “They felt like society believed Jesus was a good role model, but that Christians themselves weren’t behaving accordingly.”
Lerma, who serves on the Refugee Services Task Force for Catholic Charities, was on the same page personally as his client. “What I had observed is that throughout history, religion had been weaponized many times against marginalized communities,” he says. “And I felt like that was happening today in the United States and that there was a need to make Christianity a more inclusive and welcoming idea.
“So, I thought if we can do the kind of work that is consistent with our agency values, which is inclusive and welcoming and not judging and harming, then that’s the work that we can get behind. It has been a great relationship, and I feel like I can say that every piece of work we’ve done for He Gets Us is consistent with our values as an agency.”
The Super Bowl commercials have been some of the most talked about campaigns in 2023 and 2024. Over the last two ‘Big Games,’ the word ‘Jesus’ has been Googled more during the Super Bowl than on Easter or Christmas. “There were even times where it was trending above topics like Taylor Swift,” Lerma says with a laugh. “When we can insert a message like that into pop culture in a way that has that kind of interest in engagement, we’re doing something right.”
According to studies conducted by LERMA/, the firm has observed double-digit increases in people seeing Jesus as a positive, worthy example to follow. But He Gets Us isn’t done yet. The campaign hit the pause button over the last several months, in election season, to plan for its next big push in 2025. “We are evolving the campaign,” Lerma says. “I’m excited to get some new work out there, and we will likely be in the Super Bowl again.” A 30-second ad in Super Bowl LIX costs an estimated $7 million.
LERMA/’s efforts on the campaign have helped the Dallas firm earn AdAge’s Small Agency of the Year Award for two straight years. Other clients include The Home Depot and Interstate Batteries. The agency also works for numerous nonprofits, including The Salvation Army, Avocados From Mexico, St. Jude, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, After8ToEducate, and more.
In some cases, the work for nonprofits is pro bono or ‘low bono.’ “Could we be making more money if we were working with lots of clients who could pay the full rate? Sure,” Lerma says of corporate citizenship. “But to us, it’s important to have a mix of work that does good in the community. There’s no greater feeling than that.
“Of course, we have to do good by our clients,” he continues. “They have KPIs that they need to meet or exceed, and it’s our job to help them achieve them. But in terms of the work that we do, we want to enrich lives—whether that’s in big ways or small ways.”
Author
