MARCH 2 • 2023 | 33
D
rivers going west on Eight Mile
Road near the Lodge Freeway
in Detroit may be startled to see
a large bright pink billboard that asks
“Can a billboard end antisemitism? No.
But you’re not a billboard.” The tagline
at the bottom is “jewbelong.com.”
Similar billboards appeared on
highways in Macomb County last year.
The one on I-94 in Clinton Township
had a longer message: “We’re just 75
years since the gas chambers. So, no, a
billboard calling out Jew hate isn’t an
overreaction.”
These billboards are part of a
national campaign — one of several
Jewish advocacy efforts of JewBelong.
com, a nonprofit organization
established in 2017 in New Jersey.
Its co-founder is Archie Gottesman,
formerly the chief brand officer of
Edison Properties in New York and
the marketing guru behind Manhattan
Mini Storage’s well-known billboards.
Her goal was to use marketing and
branding techniques to increase Jewish
knowledge and observance within
the Jewish community and to combat
antisemitism — a growing challenge
in the U.S. JewBelong uses ads, signs,
billboards and its educational website
(jewbelong.com) to disseminate
information about Judaism and
increase awareness of antisemitism.
The billboards targeting
antisemitism, some with the hashtag
#EndJewHate, have been posted in
multiple American cities. Some of the
messages are available for printing as
posters and signs through downloads
on the JewBelong website.
Staff members of the Jewish
Community Relations Council (JCRC/
AJC) and the Anti-Defamation League
(ADL) of Michigan are familiar with
the antisemitism billboards. Rabbi
Asher Lopatin, executive director
of JCRC/AJC, says, “I
think they’re great. They
are raising awareness of
antisemitism, which is very
important. As Jews, we feel
vulnerable, and they may
connect with all the good
people out there to say
‘let’s work together to fight
hatred.’”
However, Rabbi Lopatin adds that he
doesn’t know how effective they are.
The JCRC/AJC focuses on building
relationships among people, which is
very effective, he says.
Carolyn Normandin, regional direc-
tor of ADL of Michigan,
attributes the campaign to
the rise of antisemitism.
“Anything that gets people
talking about a problem
is good,” she says, adding
that the message is a way
of standing up to antisemi-
tism. Normandin has heard some crit-
icism of the tone of the billboards but
hopes that it generates “open dialogue.
We need a lot of partners to fight
antisemitism.”
An advertising campaign like this is
expensive. Harvey Rabinowitz, owner
of Media … Period, is a veteran adver-
tising media planner and buyer, based
in West Bloomfield. He estimates that
the cost of the Eight Mile Road bill-
board could be $1,700 to $4,000 per
month with up to 50,000 cars potential-
ly driving by daily.
However, he points out the limita-
tions of outdoor advertising — the
preferred industry term for billboards.
Drivers typically have time to read
and absorb only eight words, which is
limiting for a “difficult subject” such
as antisemitism, he says. Outdoor
advertising is an example of “reminder
media” that usually supplements other
communications, Rabinowitz explains.
Rabbi
Asher
Lopatin
Carolyn
Normandin
SHARI S. COHEN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Billboards
in Metro
Detroit Target
Antisemitism
YEVGENIYA GAZMAN
The billboard
near the Lodge
Freeway in
Detroit
JewBelong.com calls out hate
JewBelong.com calls out hate
with outdoor advertising.
with outdoor advertising.