Jewish billionaire Robert Kraft’s $15 million Super Bowl ad on antisemitism ignites online fury

A Super Bowl commercial funded by Jewish billionaire and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is drawing attention, and unease, days before it airs, after early descriptions revealed it centres on a high-school student being branded with the slur “Dirty Jews.

”The 30-second ad, created by Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, will run during this weekend’s Super Bowl broadcast at a reported cost of $15 million. Supporters say the spot confronts antisemitism in its most casual, everyday form. The commercial opens inside a school hallway, where a Jewish teen named David walks alone between classes. Two classmates body-check him and discreetly stick a note onto his backpack.

When David reaches his locker, the message is revealed: “Dirty Jews.” The moment is intentionally quiet, with no confrontation or escalation,just the social isolation that follows.Another student, Bilal, steps in. He removes the note and replaces it with a blue square, the symbol of Kraft’s anti-hate initiative. As the two walk away together, David appears ready to confront the boys who targeted him, but Bilal stops him, saying, “No, they’re not worth it, bro.”

The ad closes with a statistic displayed on screen: two in three Jewish people have experienced antisemitism.The spot was produced by the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, an organization Kraft launched last year that focuses on public awareness campaigns. Its central call to action encourages people to post a blue square on social media to signal opposition to antisemitism and other forms of hate.

This year’s Super Bowl appearance marks the third consecutive time Kraft’s group has purchased airtime during the game.

Speaking on Squawk Box, Kraft said the new ad is aimed at addressing what he described as the role of social media in spreading falsehoods and normalizing hate, particularly among younger audiences.“What we see going on in our data center is young people falling into this trap and hate,” Kraft said. He added that data drawn from more than 500 million websites worldwide suggests 60% of Americans do not believe antisemitism is as serious as it actually is.

According to Kraft, exposure to the organization’s ads has shifted attitudes, with 30% of viewers saying they are willing to stand up and do something after seeing them.Whatever be the intention behind the ad, it has clearly not landed well. The reception online has been of criticism. One user wrote, "Nothing says we don’t control the media like a Super Bowl ad saying we are the victim."Another added, "Using a black kid to dilute racism black ppl experience in order to victimize the image of Zionist by purposely equating the anti-Zionist movement as antisemitism is disgusting. And using the black image to push this nonsense during Black History Month is even more repulsive."A third wrote, "One of the most stunning developments of the past few years is how shockingly terrible Jews have become at propaganda and PR"