Miracles of Jesus - old or new?

Today I saw a commercial with a star athlete testing at the Reebok Home Office on a sprawling lawn with various obstacles. Powering through a stutter-step over tires, the camera panned out to show the athlete then performing the same exercise over water, which he easily cruised over with quick feet.

In my head, I understand the ad. The shoes make you walk on water because they are so delicious and comfortable. Never before has the air filtration and comfort been so good, that you can walk on water. Essentially performing a miracle.

What makes walking on water special? It was done successfully by only one person, Jesus.

I grew up Catholic and I know most of the miracles performed by Jesus. More and more these days I see ads and campaigns based on imagery of Jesus. From Puff Daddy on a cross in a Nas video, to Ray Allen's Jesus Shuttlesworth on the cover of Sport Illustrated with a crown of thorns in He Got Game, there have always been ads featuring religious imagery and taboo.

However, I don't remember there ever being many ads looking at performing the miracles that many religions deem holy. Walking on water, water into wine, resurrection? Is this a new venture into advertising?

I could definitely see Lebron James in a commercial feeding the 5000 on the beach with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Whip up a quick pate and throw em out on crackers. Stop, look to the camera, wink, (cue music). Lebron - "Don't just feed yourself, feed your friends. Triscuit Bite-Size, the perfect cracker when you need a miracle."

In light of the current economy, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw much more of this in the direct future. The notion of mentor and hero is definitely "in" these days. All one has to do is flip on the telly and witness the Barack Obama buzz approaching inauguration this Tuesday. With such a hungry population in need of miracle workers, I wonder if direct re-enactment of some of Jesus' more popular miracles will make it mainstream?