Foundation to Combat Antisemitism's $25 million campaign to raise awareness

Amid a record surge in antisemitic incidents, a new campaign aims to drive awareness to the increase while also calling for action from bystanders. The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism’s $25 million push introduces a new symbol, a blue square emoji. The small square represents the disparity between the 2.4% size of the Jewish population in the U.S. and the statistic that the group is victim to 55% of religious-based hate crimes, according to a spokesman. One of the campaign’s core ads shows a blue square at the center of a black screen. “The size of this square is 2.4% of your screen. The same size as the Jewish population in the U.S. Yet Jews are on the receiving end of 55% of all religious hate crimes.” The spot ends with a call to action—encouraging viewers to share the blue square in order to show their support for Jews and #StandUpToJewishHate. “When you share those data points side by side, they really strike people and leave an impression,” said Matthew Berger, executive director of the FCAS. “The idea is that we’re encouraging people to understand what the blue square symbolizes and then use it to post and share.” The commercials begin airing this week. The campaign will also be integrated into certain TV programs such as “The Voice” and “The Today Show" as part of a collaboration with NBCU Advertising and Partnerships. The blue square will appear, and the show host will point it out and explain the campaign ahead of a commercial break that includes the FCAS spot, Berger said. “That integration will excite people and raise awareness at a higher level than the commercials will do on their own,” he added. Campaign addresses lack of awareness The new marketing is the culmination of years of work for the FCAS, which was founded in 2019 by Robert K. Kraft, the CEO of the Kraft Group and owner of the New England Patriots football team. The organization analyzes antisemitic trends on social media platforms, which can number roughly 300 million data points every day, and shares its findings with partners in the Jewish community and law enforcement to raise awareness. “We’re powering a lot of the data that other organizations are using as partners in having the conversations to address antisemitism,” said Berger, noting that the FCAS was also created “with the recognition that there was nobody addressing the lack of awareness of antisemitism in the broader general public.” The new campaign is a response to that missing piece. It also follows the release of two ads released in October and January during National Football League games. Those spots were designed to combat the spike in antisemitic rhetoric from well-known public figures such as Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, and Donald Trump. The incidents continue to rise, however. A recent report from the Anti-Defamation League, the civil rights organization, found that antisemitic incidents in the U.S. reached nearly 3,700 cases last year—the most since the group began keeping records in 1979. In addition to the blue square calls to action, the new campaign will also include three spots highlighting the importance of bystanders in taking action and speaking out about what they see. One spot shows a young Jewish teen receiving hate messages on social media—he then receives a message of support from a singing group in Harlem. Another shows a neighbor painting over hate graffiti for a Jewish mother and her young daughter. The push includes TV, out-of-home, social media and digital advertising, as well as partnerships with social media influencers who will be sharing the blue square on their platforms. The FCAS worked with Wunderman Thompson on creative. Mindshare handled media duties and Weber Shandwick worked on PR. Noun helped with influencer relationships. The campaign from the FCAS debuts a day after Ronald Lauder ran a full-page open letter ad in The New York Times, calling on President Biden to take actions including in “a major high-profile address, tell the American people that antisemitism is no different than racism.” The ad notes that Lauder, president of World Jewish Congress, paid for its publication.

Antisemitism group begins $25 million campaign to raise awareness

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