The National Football League doesn’t shy away from social justice issues in its 2020 Super Bowl ad, casting a former pro to share a personal story in a larger move to call attention to police shootings of Black men in America.

The ad from 72andSunny stars Anquan Boldin, a retired NFL wide receiver and one-time Super Bowl champion, whose cousin Corey Jones was shot and killed in 2015 by a plain-clothes Florida police officer while he was waiting for a tow truck. It includes a dramatic re-enactment of Jones’ killing.

The NFL’s “Inspire Change” spot with Boldin, which aired in the game’s third quarter and runs for 60 seconds, is a continuation of a larger effort of the same name, which the league launched in January 2019. 

Inspire Change was created last year to spread awareness of social justice causes and distribute economic advancement grants, among other goals, though some critics have denounced the initiative’s creation as a PR move by the NFL to repair its image following the Colin Kaepernick controversy.

BRAND: National Football League

AGENCY: 72andSunny

QUARTER AIRED: Q3

SUPER BOWL: LIV

YEAR: 2020