The Super Bowl has come and gone and with it, Super Bowl ads. One ad that had already garnered attention before its debut was paid for by Jewish billionaire and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. The ad, entitled “Sticky Note,” sponsored by Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, was meant to denounce growing antisemitism in America. It featured a Jewish teenager whose classmates place a sticky note on his backpack with an antisemitic note that says, “DIRTY JEW.” When the student finally notices the note, he freezes. A fellow student comes up to him and covers it with a blue square, while placing a blue square on his own chest as he walks with the Jewish student in solidarity. The fellow student, who is black, sympathizes with the Jewish student, and discourages him from retaliating in violence. The ad finishes with the statistic, “2 in 3 Jewish teens have experienced antisemitism. Share the #blue square and show you care.”

Adam Katz, president of the Blue Square Alliance against Hate, said in a statement that the group’s purpose is to “inspire Americans to stand up to hate in their own communities, online and wherever they see it. With this ad,” he added, “we’re reaching hundreds of millions of Americans and encouraging them to take up this collective mission.” The ad cost $15 million.

While the intention of the ad was noble, many, including Jewish advocates, felt the ad missed the mark and portrayed Jewish people as weak. “I get why they did it like this — you want to make your point in 30 seconds,” wrote PJ Grisar for the Jewish outlet, Forward. “But if you follow instances of antisemitism in schools or online — and it’s kind of an occupational hazard for me — you know this is not how today’s animus is typically expressed. And that can have a kind of unfortunate ripple effect.” He called the ad “out of touch.” “And with that, there’s a risk that antisemitism will seem like a manufactured problem.” “The Super Bowl antisemitism ad by Robert Kraft, whom I love, portrays Jews as pre-Holocaust wimps, not able to fight back, who cower in fear. We need an ad that shows Jews as lions,” wrote Rabbi Shmuley on X.

Others, however, noted that while the ad was imperfect, it did at least acknowledge the growing problem of antisemitism. A report by the FBI showed that anti-Jewish hate crimes had increased by 63% since 2023, with Jews making up 68% of all religion-based hate crimes. Antisemitism had increased the most amongst young people. “[The ad] isn’t perfect, but at least it’s clear about the issue it’s addressing (unlike previous years’ attempts),” wrote Jewish mother Rachel Steinhardt. “Jewish kids deal with antisemitism often in public schools. This ad represents that (even if unrealistically). People should know.”