Robert Kraft, the Jewish-American billionaire CEO of Kraft Group, has spent $15 million (£11m) on an advertisement to be broadcast during the Super Bowl.
The clip, which is half a minute long, is intended to spark conversation around antisemitism and will air this Sunday.
One of the most-viewed sporting events in the world – over 127 million viewers globally tuned in to the event last year – the Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the US National Football League.
The advert funded by Kraft depicts a Jewish student walking through a school corridor, being barged into and ridiculed by his peers.
When he arrives at his locker, he sees that a note with the words “dirty Jew” has been stuck to his backpack.
A Black student approaches him and covers the words with a blue sticky note. The blue square is the emblem of the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, the organisation headed by Kraft.
“Do not listen to that”, he tells the Jewish student. “I know how it feels”.
The advert ends by informing viewers that two in three Jewish teens have experienced antisemitism.
The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate was founded in 2019 by Kraft. Originally known as the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, before its recent rebrand, its mission is “to inspire Americans to stand up to Jewish hate and all hate”.
This is the third time that Kraft has paid for one of the notoriously expensive advertising slots during the Super Bowl.
Last year’s advert funded by the organisation featured American football star Tom Brady and rapper Snoop Dogg trading insults, though it did not specifically highlight antisemitism.
The slot was criticised by some for neglecting to highlight the rise of anti-Jewish sentiment in the US despite the organisation’s stated mission.
At the time, Kraft told Jewish Insider that “the challenge is that we just can’t explain the complexity of Judaism or antisemitism in a 30-second ad. But what we can do is invite Americans into a conversation about something they do have experience with: hate”.
The advert will also air during broadcaster NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage, taking place in Italy and starting on Friday.
The Super Bowl will play out in California, contested by the New England Patriots, which is owned by Kraft, and the Seattle Seahawks.
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