‘You Know How to Make a 93-Year-Old Man Cry’: Robert Kraft Ponies Up $7 Million to Run MLK Jr. Aide’s Anti-Hate Ad During Super Bowl

A colleague of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was brought to tears when New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft called to say he was running the activist’s anti-hate ad during the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl commercials are some of the most talked about ads each year, with some people tuning in to the football championship just to see what ad agencies have ginned up. A 30-second spot costs a cool $7 million, which is what makes Kraft’s call all the more spectacular.

CNN rolled tape of Kraft calling MLK’s one-time speechwriter Dr. Clarence Jones.

KRAFT: Hello? Is this Dr. Clarence Jones?

JONES: Yes. Who’s calling me?

KRAFT: This is Robert Kraft.

JONES: My beloved brother! What a great honor.

KRAFT: No, it’s my honor. Well, let me tell you something. We’re going to run your ad during the Super Bowl.

JONES: Oh! You know what? You know how to make a 93-year-old man cry. Martin would’ve loved you.

Kraft is the founder of The Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism, which is promoting its Stand Up To Hate campaign. He said the ad was inspired by the bloodshed happening in the Middle East, and how it’s negatively impacting people all over the world including the United States.

“Part of the campaign of our foundation is to stop all hate in the country,” Kraft told CNN’s Dana Bash. “It starts with Jewish hate and then leads to every other group. We did a report that showed us that if we created ads that educate most Americans, who are great people, that we need them to stand up and not be silent when they see something happening that’s inappropriate to any ethnic group, any religious group, any gender issue, anything, we have to stop hate to keep the foundational values of America strong.”

Kraft said he hoped some 200 million people tuning in to the Super Bowl will see the ad, which is about building bridges to combat hate, according to CNN. The audience could be even larger now that pop star Taylor Swift is expected to cheer on her beau, the Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

Watch the clip above via CNN.