New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is back. He is again addressing racism. He is again asking America to take a hard look at itself. He is again using America’s biggest game as a vehicle to do it.
As he did last year, Kraft is releasing a Super Bowl ad from his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. This one is called: ‘No Reason to Hate.’ It features entertainer Snoop Dogg and Kraft’s longtime friend, and of course former quarterback, Tom Brady.
Why is Kraft doing this (again)? Kraft looks around the nation and continues to be shaken by what he sees around him.
‘I’m worried about what’s going on in the country,’ he told USA TODAY Sports. ‘With the ad, I’m trying to show how we can be better.’
It follows the FCAS’s initial Super Bowl ad called ‘Silence.’ That one featured Dr. Clarence B. Jones, a prominent civil rights leader, who played a key role in drafting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.
AD METER 2025: Sign up to rate all the commercials from the big game!
Kraft founded the FCAS in 2019. He did it to battle antisemitism and all hate.
“The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism is doing incredible work, and I’m honored to stand with themin the fight against hate,” Brady said in a statement. “This Super Bowl, football is on my mind, but so issomething even bigger – building a world where hate has no place. The No Reason to Hate campaign isn’t just a message; it’s a movement. I’m proud to be a part of it, and I hope you’ll join us.’
Snoop Dogg said in part in a statement: ‘It doesn’t matter what your background is, what you look like or where you come from, hate is never the answer. It’s time we all start seeing it for what it is and together, take a stand against hate.’
We can debate many things about Kraft’s newest Super Bowl message. Many people will hear it and like it. Others will ignore it. Some will dislike it. (Those people are the ones who need to listen the most.) Some will say keep politics out of sports. Kraft will evoke many different emotions along many different fault lines.
We’ll all emerge from our various silos and information ecosystems to sit for this game and Kraft’s commercial will ask us all to think. Some will take advantage of this moment. Some will not. This is America. This is how we work.
What is indisputable to anyone who has paid even half a millisecond of attention is that Kraft is right. America is at a precipice. A dangerous one. We don’t need to go into all of the examples of why. But it is. Look around. Hate is everywhere.
‘We need to get this under control,’ Kraft said, ‘or we’re not going to good places.’
‘This ad,’ Kraft explained, ‘is a call to action.’
Kraft sees these ads as a counter to the ugliness he sees in the country. He knows this ad, even with its significant star power, won’t change the world, but it could change a mind or two or a thousand.
‘There’s no reason to hate,’ Kraft said. ‘Why should you hate someone because of the color of their skin? Or the way they worship God? Or their lifestyle?’
‘As long as you treat people respectfully,’ he said. ‘We’re not born with hate. We’re born with empathy.’
So how did the commercial come about? Kraft, who said he has known Snoop since the 1990s, called the entertainer and asked if he’d do it. Snoop was in. Kraft said he next called Brady and the quarterback said yes as well.
Kraft was asked one final question. What would he say to the people who hate?
‘I would say to them to stand against hate,’ Kraft said, ‘but also reevaluate why you hate in the first place.’
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
