The fan-focused campaign was launched by The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) and New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito in the heart of Times Square featuring New York sports teams such as Liberty WNBA player Kiah Stokes, Knicks’ John Starks, The Yankees’ Joe Girardi, Mets’ Jeurys Familia, Rangers’ Rod Gilbert, and Cosmos’ Lucky Mkosana and Giovanni Savarese.
Domestic violence is a widespread social problem and professional sports are not immune. When an athlete is involved in an incident, sports fans are often caught in the middle and forced to reconcile their allegiance to a team and their feelings about domestic violence with little direction. This can cause conflict, confusion, and misunderstanding. The #NotAFan campaign provides sports fans with a means to express support for their team, while advocating that domestic violence is unacceptable. Fans don’t have to pick a side.
“We wanted the PSAs to look like commercial spots. Very different from the traditional talking head style PSA we are so used to seeing,” says Jimmy Ferguson, who created the spots. “We carefully designed the cinematography, editing, color grade and sound design with the intention of creating a cinematic environment.” Glenn Chocky, who edited the campaign says “It was important to craft a story that was familiar to sports fans so we could draw them in. This would be the strongest vehicle to deliver this important message.”
The campaign’s call to action is ‘PURPLE. WEAR IT. SHARE IT.’, asking fans to upload a photo of themselves to social media with a message, ‘I’m a fan of baseball, I’m a fan of XX team but I am #NotaFan of Domestic Violence.’
Written and Directed by Jimmy Ferguson