Cannes Lions

Antisemitism Is Not Old News

PUBLIC INC., Toronto / CITY OF TORONTO / 2023

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Overview

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OVERVIEW

Background

For the past five years, the Jewish community has been the most targeted group for hate crimes in the city of Toronto. Despite comprising less than 4% of Toronto’s total population, Jewish people were targeted in just over 22% of hate crimes in 2021. We needed to raise awareness around the ongoing violence that Toronto's Jewish community faces, to snap people out of the misconception that antisemitism is a problem from the past, and to provide the resources and tools needed to combat antisemetic hate.

We created 70 newspapers – one for each reported instance of antisemitic hate in Toronto in 2021. Our newspapers featured real stories of antisemitism that took place in the past year, but depicted them in a way that felt archival. On the back, the papers were punctuated by one impactful fact: “Antisemitism only seems like old news. These stories happened in 2021.”

Outcome

Our newspapers were delivered to prominent Jewish community members, allyship organizations, and influential politicians in the city of Toronto. The campaign was promoted in a press conference with Mayor John Tory and key public officials in Nathan Phillips Square. Out-of-Home transit shelter posters across Toronto depicted three distinct newspaper covers. Social ads also helped reinforce our campaign message.

The campaign received coverage from 20+ national and international media outlets, generating 12.5 million impressions. The City of Toronto featured the campaign in a press conference, which was covered nationally in Canada. Our newspapers made their way into the hands of some of the city's biggest decision makers, including Toronto Mayor John Tory. In 2022, the Toronto Police Service debuted a newly-formed Jewish Community Consultative Committee to better combat antisemetic violence in Toronto, and reported instances of hate crimes against Jewish people in the city have dropped significantly.

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