Earlier this year Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) aired an ad in the Super Bowl featuring civil rights leader Clarence B. Jones. The theme of the ad was that the silence of those who know better allows hate to foster and spread.  

Now the group has formed an alliance with multiple sports leagues and some well-known coaches, players and personalities – including NFL head coaches Andy Reid and Jim Harbaugh and former NBA great Shaquille O’Neal – for a new campaign that will air during pro and college sports games and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade over the Thanksgiving holiday break and beyond.

The new campaign is called #TimeOut Against Hate, aimed at turning the frequently called for pause in sports contests into a national call against hate. 

The new ad spot and campaign is the first of its kind in uniting major sports leagues, their commissioners, and star athletes and managers to champion the fight against hate.    

The campaign is from WPP’s VML and stemmed from a closed-door meeting with Kraft and major sports commissioners earlier this year as an opportunity for each league and its teams to take a larger, active role in propelling the fight against antisemitism and other forms of hate. Participating leagues in the NFL, WNBA, NBA, MLB, MLS, NWSL, NHL and NASCAR.

WPP’s Mindshare is the media partner for this campaign, with media activations including:   

# Real-time timeout ads – dynamic streaming placements that are triggered in real-time by timeouts in NFL and college games. When someone calls a timeout in select games, the 30-second spot then starts playing in streaming. These dynamic insertion placements will be in rotation across NFL and NCAA games through December.     

# Content partnerships – with content creators and media voices such as three of iHeart’s top sports podcasters (LaVar Arrington, Doug Gottlieb, and Julian Edelman), as well as @dudewithsign on Instagram; the iHeart activations were launched in mid- November.    

# Live sports broadcast coverage – the 30-second spot has started playing in various games and leagues across Amazon Prime, ESPN, Fox, NBC, ABC, and will continue over the next few months.