Foundation to Combat Antisemitism is Calling Upon All Americans to #StandUpToJewishHate in Campaign

On the heels of introducing the Blue Square 🟦 as a symbol to #StandUpToJewishHate, Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) is rolling out powerful narrative commercials that showcase what antisemitism looks like for American Jews today and the role non-Jews can play in fighting hate and intolerance. The spots, created by Wunderman Thompson North America and directed by Derek Cianfrance (The Place Beyond the Pines, Blue Valentine, I Know This Much is True), highlight scenarios inspired by real-life antisemitic activity the Jewish community currently faces.

In Son, a father confronts his teenage son for antisemitic online posts and creates a raw, teachable moment by driving him to a temple to witness real families attending services. 

In Tony, a man paints over antisemitic graffiti on his Jewish neighbor’s garage door to quietly show his support for the young Jewish family.

Nearly 70% of Jewish Americans faced antisemitic hate online last year.  While many Jews will be able to easily relate to the everyday scenarios in the spots, they were shot and scripted to especially humanize and contextualize antisemitism for non-Jewish audiences and feature the role non-Jews can play to #StandUpToJewishHate.

On March 27, FCAS launched their campaign to mobilize all Americans, and especially non-Jews, to #StandUpToJewishHate by using the blue square emoji 🟦 as a unifying symbol of support. Jews only make up 2.4% of the American population yet are the victims of 55% of religious-based hate crimes.

The integrated ad campaign across NBCUniversal programming – driven by Mindshare – has hosts and talent from some of the network’s most popular shows introducing and raising awareness of the rising threat of antisemitism – including NBC’s Emmy Award-winning series, “The Voice” and Daytime Emmy Award-winning talk show “The Kelly Clarkson Show” Utilizing NBCUniversal’s platform to bring this crucial message to audiences everywhere, the 🟦 will additionally be featured on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”

In its first week, the campaign has already amassed 2.8 billion media impressions, a reach of 50.6 million people on social media, and over 44.5K online mentions.  Celebrities including Tom Brady, Julianne Moore, Meek Mill, and Jon Bon Jovi have joined in on the mission and showed solidarity by posting #🟦. Professional sports teams, mayors from small towns, and governors across the United States have shared the 🟦, along with Cardinal Dolan, Henry Louis Gates, and thousands of everyday people who have been moved to show their support. The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, People, and USA Today have published stories. Devin McCourty wore a Blue Square pin while throwing the first pitch at the Red Sox game on Opening Day. 

The #StandUpToJewishHate campaign will soon appear on other major media networks and popular programming, including the NBA, NHL Playoffs, and NFL Draft, as well as be featured on social media platforms in partnership with Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube.  In the next few weeks, #🟦 will be seen on billboards, social media feeds, and digital advertising to call attention to the disparity between the size of the U.S. Jewish population and the scale of hate the community faces, both online and in person.

FCAS is fielding inquiries from numerous networks who want to incorporate the Blue Square 🟦 in their upcoming programming by donating 2.4 percent of their screen as the campaign continues to gain traction.