Actor and producer Mark Wahlberg and “The Chosen” star Jonathan Roumie appeared in a 30-second commercial for the Hallow app during the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 11, where they encouraged viewers to pray during the season of the Lent. Hallow co-founder and CEO Alex Jones says the ad led to the app receiving the highest number of downloads it has ever achieved in one minute.
“It was the most downloads in a single minute we’d ever seen,” Jones told Catholic News Agency. “We’re already ranking ahead of Netflix on the App Store charts and Lent hasn’t even started yet. Glory to God.”
Mark Wahlberg, Jonathan Roumie Featured in Hallow Super Bowl Ad
Hallow is a Catholic app that facilitates prayer and meditation. On Sunday, the app launched its first ever ad to appear in the Super Bowl. The commercial promotes Hallow’s yearly “Pray40 prayer challenge” to help “Christians around the world draw closer to God during Lent.”
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A press release announcing the ad said that Hallow was taking advantage of the fact that the Super Bowl occurs relatively late this year and that Lent falls early in the 2024 calendar.
Ash Wednesday, which will take place on Feb. 14 (also Valentine’s Day), marks the beginning of Lent, a period in the Christian calendar when believers anticipate Jesus’ death and resurrection, often by abstaining from certain foods or habits. Lent ends during Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter Sunday.
“When we learned about the timing of the Big Game this year, we couldn’t have been more excited to work with Mark and Jonathan to use it as an opportunity to invite millions into prayer,” Jones said.
Mark Wahlberg has starred in numerous films, including “The Departed,” “Ted,” “The Italian Job,” “Shooter,” and two movies in the “Transformers” franchise. One of his recent films was “Father Stu,” a movie based on the true story of a boxer who became a priest.
Jonathan Roumie stars as Jesus in the TV series, “The Chosen,” which on Feb. 1 released the first three episodes of its newest season in theaters. On Feb. 15, those episodes will end their run, and the next three episodes in Season 4 will come out.
