Just in time for the holidays, the American Atheists have launched Part 2 of their Lincoln Tunnel billboard campaign. The first featured Neptune, Jesus, Santa Claus and an upwardly-mobile Satan.

Part 2 takes that theme and adds a call to action “for atheists to step out of the closet to their families,” according to the American Atheists website.

The reaction?

You’d expect people to be lighting the torches and getting biblical. Instead, the Catholic League was sort of like, “Meh.”

“It’s inane,” Catholic League president Bill Donohue told AdFreak. “Nobody knows what this means. I mean, Neptune? Over here, we just looked at each other in puzzlement.”

Ouch. You know your anti-religion brand has problems when you can’t even ruffle the papal feathers two weeks before Christmas.

Now, we Brand Spankers® don’t give a hoot if you’re a “closeted atheist” – though the word “closeted” seems like poor diction – or a God-fearing Santa-lover. But if you’re attempting to garner national coverage with your marketing messages, for the love of Poseidon, HIRE AN AGENCY TO DESIGN YOUR AD.

These billboards are clunky, ugly and uninteresting. Worst of all, they’re ineffective. Which means no matter what the American Atheists don’t believe, their brand resides in purgatory.

Is your brand committing a cardinal sin of advertising?

Give it an exorcism – er, spanking.