BBC Responds to Ancient Symbol Commercial

BBC Responds to Ancient Symbol Commercial

Many of the people in the United Kingdom were so disillusioned by the BBC’s promo piece which followed the championship football (soccer) match,  many complaints were filed. This promo piece followed the televised match between Manchester vs. Liverpool and it incorporated ancient symbols; including Roman gods. Many people questioned the relationship between soccer and this type imagery to the ancient world.

Soccer is one of the most popular sports in Europe and the Americas. It has a vivid and interesting history in the world of sports. Early evidence of soccer being played as a sport finds occurrence in China during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC. In China, it was during the Han dynasty that people dribbled leather balls by kicking it into a small net. Recorded facts also support the fact that Romans and Greeks used to play ball for fun and frolic. Some facts point to Kyoto in Japan where kicking of ball was a popular sport.

In the defense of the BBC, there is ancient evidence of the Roman culture embracing a “form” of kicking a ball but clearly their culture is not defined by the sport. Modern day soccer is credited in many circles to Britain but you can not say that in front of a Scotsman or a heated debate will ensue. I am setting this up so you will have a point of reference to the BBC’s Complaint Departments response.

Below you will see the exact letter which is a response from the BBC:

Dear Mr. XXXXX: 

Thanks for contacting us regarding ‘Match of the Day 2’ broadcast on the 16 March.

Please accept our apologies for the delay in replying. We know our correspondents appreciate a quick response and we’re sorry you have had to wait on this occasion.

We understand you were concerned with the item at end of the programme.

We decided to end the programme in a topical and light hearted way, we certainly didn’t wish to be controversial.

The Ides of March ending was produced because the programme fell on the weekend of that fateful date – the 15th March. The Ides of March refers to the date when Julius Caesar was betrayed and murdered in Shakespeare’s famous play and has subsequently become synonymous as a date of foreboding and a warning of future events. 

We chose to show images of managers and players who might be “looking over their shoulders” at that time and combined them with images of Julius Caesar and generic symbols representing foreboding and seeing into the future.

One such symbol was the Eye of Providence. It dates back thousands of years and can be found in Egyptian times (Eye of Horus) and was used to denote divine providence, omniscience and “knowledge of the future”. The notion of the ‘All-Seeing Eye’ is one that has persisted with many religions. This is why we tied it in with the Ides of March, a date of foreboding long associated with destiny in popular culture and adopted by some Freemasons.

Some of our viewers have suggested that the symbol was used in reference to a group called The Illuminati and that this was an attempt to indoctrinate viewers or relay a subliminal message in support of this group. This is not the case at all. On investigating the complaints we have received about this issue, the editor of Match of the Day 2 has discovered that The Illuminati never used the Eye of Providence as a symbol, but used the Eye of Minerva (an Owl).

Although you were unhappy with ending of the programme and the references to the symbols, we hope this goes some way in reassuring you that the intention was to use the symbols in context of the big stories in football that particular weekend rather than an attempt to indoctrinate or incite controversy. Nevertheless, going forward, the editor has assured us that he will be more vigilant in how we use symbols in future.

Thanks again for contacting us. 

Kind Regards

BBC Complaints
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

So there it is,  the official response by the BBC. What do you think about it? I did notice they did not touch on the symbol which was interlaced with “The Eye of Providence” or the other Roman man in the video. Please leave comments and let’s discuss this!


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Michael Erevna

Michael is the Editor-in-Chief of RevelationNow.net fulfilling his true passion of researching and writing about Biblical scripture, ancient text, and esoteric mysteries. His book "Thy Sun, Thy Rod, and Thy Staff" is available on Amazon.com. He has appeared on "In Search Of..." with Zachary Quinto and other radio appearances.
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