Two weeks ahead of the Big Game, the National Football League (NFL) pre-released its own Super Bowl spot which tackles the politically charged issue of police shootings of black men.
The spot, developed by agency 72andSunny, is fronted by retired NFL star Anquan Boldin who shares the tragic story of his cousin, Corey Jones, who, in 2015, was shot and killed by a Florida police officer dressed in plain clothes while he was waiting for roadside assistance.
The police officer, Nouman Raja, claimed he acted in self defense, but a jury found him guilty of manslaughter and attempted murder after a recording of Jones’ call for a tow truck captured the encounter. This recording revealed that Raja didn’t identify himself as a police officer (according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel).
Debuting during Sunday’s conference championship games, the film, which will run again in the Super Bowl, is part of the NFL’s #InspireChange social justice initiative which followed in the wake of the Colin Kaepernick led equality #TakeAKnee protest.
The ad, which includes dramatic re-enactments of the tragedy, tells the story of just one of several high-profile incidents of police-involved shootings of young black men which in part has sparked movements such as ‘Black Lives Matter’.
This spot is the hardest-hitting creative and message since the NFL launched its #InspireChange social justice programme launched in January 2019.
#InspireChange has been developed with the involvement of the Players Coalition (which was co-founded in 2017 by Boldin).
The initiative includes other awareness campaigns and grants for related to education and economic advancement, police and community relations and criminal justice reform.
Previous #InspireChange ads include one fronted by New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis which advocates for a change in legislation in Louisiana to restore voting rights to felons that are out on probation and another led by San Francisco 49ers defensive end Arik Armstead focusing on education equality initiatives in Sacramento, California.
Thus far more than $25m in grants has been awarded to social justice organizations under the #InspireChange programme: including more than 500 grants awarded to current and former NFL players for social justice programs and initiatives.”
“We feel this is an incredibly important topic and deserves visibility in our biggest game of the year,” said NFL chief marketing officer Tim Ellis.
“With the Boldin spot, we want to tell the story of how one family’s tragedy inspired the creation of the Players Coalition, led to a historic partnership between NFL players and the league, and sparked one of the largest social justice efforts in sports history.”
Comments:
Some critics have questioned the league’s motives for #InspireChange, arguing that it is an image-led PR exercise to alleviate some of the damage of the Kaepernick controversy and the skepticism after the NFL’s tie up with Jay Z’s Roc Nation to help support Inspire Change and amplify the league’s social justice efforts.
After that deal, sports journalist Jamele Hill said:“This alliance plays right into the NFL’s hands, because the league seems determined to banish any memory of Kaepernick with its recent social-justice efforts—even though it’s likely that Jay-Z and the NFL wouldn’t even be entering into this arrangement if Kaepernick hadn’t taken a knee in 2016.”
Which the NFL countered with the statement: “The only way to answer those critics is to simply continue to focus on bringing people together and continue to shine a light on all the great work that NFL players and teams are doing to bring about positive social change in communities across our great country.”
But surely those same criticisms can’t be aimed at this hard hitting, highly-charged, emotional and tragic spot?
Links:
NFL
http://www.nflshop.com/source/bm-nflc…
72andSunny
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.