The top 10 shows in television history are all Super Bowls. When I worked in the ad business, this was our Academy Awards, our Judgment Day. Advertisers would spend millions to buy 30 seconds and then went nuts to produce a clever commercial that everyone would talk about.
But just as Pepsi and Doritos can take advantage of the biggest TV audience of the year, can a social cause do the same– a cause like, say, fighting antisemitism?
Last year, Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism made a $7 million bet that it can. It ran a 30-second ad, called “Silence,” that starred prominent civil rights leader Clarence B. Jones, a key figure in drafting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. It ended with the tagline “Stand up to Jewish hate, stand up to all hate.”
This year, it is running an ad with rapper Snoop Dogg and football legend Tom Brady angrily spewing hate-filled messages at each other with the tagline: “Stand Up to All Hate.” The only place viewers will see the word “antisemitism” is on a logo at the end.
What’s funny (or not) is that last year, the Foundation took heat for focusing too much on Jews (are millions of partying Americans in the mood to hear that Jews are victims?), showing the StanduptoJewishhate.org address at the end. This year, I’ve heard critics say that they’ve “All Lives Mattered” the message by avoiding a specific reference to Jews. In classic argumentative Jewish fashion, neither approach made everyone happy.
But just to muddle things up, I’m not sure either approach works.
My first question: Why assume that to fight hate you must show hate?
Every TV viewer, Super Bowl or otherwise, is keenly aware that an advertiser wants to sell them on something, whether that is to change insurance companies or to stand up to hate.
But because people in general don’t enjoy sales pitches, they expect something in return for their attention. That’s why the best Super Bowl ads have been both highly entertaining and memorable.
Notice I haven’t said anything about the “truth.” The truth is a floor, not a ceiling. A commercial can convey an important truth and still be ineffective.
A message that tells you bluntly to go against hate strikes me as very important but also tedious and preachy.
Good commercials flatter the viewer. They make you feel good about yourself. They make you identify with the people and the message.
Good commercials flatter the viewer. They make you feel good about yourself. They make you identify with the people and the message. Hate is obviously bad, but who can relate to it while you’re enjoying beers with friends at a Super Bowl party? Are you saying I’m the kind of person who would not stand up to hate, or that there are people in my social circle who may be haters and I should stand up to them? The message is both heavy and fuzzy.
The final thing is credibility. It’s always cool to use celebrities, but if you force them to be something they’re not, the viewer sees right through it. Brady and Snoop are clearly not the kind of people who would show hatred that way, and viewers know it. They did it for the commercial.
Of course, it’s easy to criticize, and we should all be grateful for initiatives like the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.
That said, am I willing to stick my neck out and suggest other commercial approaches that might work better?
I can think of two.
The first would be to reframe the “fighting hate” message through a visceral, emotional lens that is both uplifting and memorable. Think of those moving “Think Different” commercials from Apple that elevated heroes.
The idea would be to remind the 125 million viewers that hate does not define our country; that in a nation that cherishes free speech, we most admire decent, inspirational speech; that we have prevailed for so long because of aspirational ideals that encourage us to bring out our best, and because of heroes who know how to preach love while also fighting hate.
You’ll have to trust me that the images and the music would give you the goosebumps. Possible tagline: “When we stand up to hate, we stand up for America.”
A second approach would be to find a former hater who no longer hates. They exist. I’ve read stories of former Ku Klux Klan members who’ve taken the hard road to redeem themselves. This would be a raw, straight-up testimonial that would dramatize the power of shedding a social poison and aiming higher. The idea is that in America, things can change for the better.
Either commercial would end with, “Brought to you by the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.” Among other things, that would let 125 million Americans know how much Jews love their country.
Who knows, by the end of the commercial some viewers might even think, “Man, these Jews are pretty cool.”
Have a Super Sunday, and enjoy the commercials.
