Buying a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl about combating hate was “very expensive,” Robert Kraft, the billionaire philanthropist and owner of the New England Patriots, told People magazine. “We hope it’s going to be a good return on investment.”
Kraft, 82, talked to the magazine as his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism nears its first anniversary later this month.
He told People that the “message of empathy and standing up to all hate” ought to be at the Super Bowl, given it’s “the greatest TV event in America” and “the only time that you can reach probably 200 million people, when it’s all said and done.”
The foundation, which Kraft funded with an initial $25 million, has a mission of educating the public, which too often is misled by social media, Kraft told People. “There’s so many falsehoods on social media, and it has such wide coverage,” he said.
He told the magazine he’s proud of the foundation’s work, including reaching between 130 million and 150 million adults between seven and 10 times with an ad that aired last April and May. “Our ad changed the way people thought,” he said.
But, he acknowledged, “there’s still a long way to go.”
