Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?
As someone who loves covers, renditions, remixes and mashups in all their forms, I was very happy to stumble upon this cheeky video by Franco-American band Hold Your Horses for their song ‘70 Million’. It is an entertaining look at art history as band members playfully reconstruct famous paintings, offering their own interpretation to the masters.
There is a long history of ‘Visit Israel’ ads that seem to miss the mark. Various organizations want the world to visit our tiny country, but apparently good intentions are just not enough, and these often result in offensive adverts. The latest spot, by the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA), should get some kind of an award for bad taste:
Size Doesn’t Matter -- CIJA -- 2010
Following are a few more ‘Visit Israel’ ads you might find offensive. One thing I find common to all these ads is that they all probably started as funny jokes during a brainstorming session, but there were probably no adults in the room to say “Ha, ha… very funny, now let’s think harder”. Some of these were specifically aimed at quote-unquote going viral, hoping for a lot of FW: FW: FW: THIS IS FUNNY emails.
Un-holy Israel -- Keta Keta -- 2007
Indeed -- Israel at Heart -- 2005
The Israeli branch of WIZO, the Women’s International Zionist Organization established in 1920, continues its annual tradition of announcing the most chauvinistic Israeli advertisements created during the past year. The worst ad will be announced during International Women’s Day, but the top ten finalists were revealed last week. Following are the most sexist TV spots of 2009 and while they are in Hebrew, sexism transcends language barriers:
Tempo’s Goldstar beer -- McCann-Erickson Israel
Israel Post -- Glickman-Nettler-Samsonov
Trima’s Postinor morning-after pill -- Armoni BATES
Procter & Gamble’s Fairy liquid -- Adler, Chomsky & Warshavsky
New Hamashbir Lazarchan -- McCann-Erickson Israel
The artists collective I am part of, Hagigit, has joined the Train Theatre once again to celebrate Purim. Just like our cooperation last year, we set up a photography studio and took pictures of well-costumed kids. The parents were obviously delighted since these were their kids, but I was anxiously waiting for that one photo to transcend being cute into being really interesting. This doesn’t happen often, mind you, but it did happen before. Photos captured today can be found on Hagigit’s Flickr page.
The first day already gone, you can still join us today and tomorrow in Jerusalem. Admission is 30 NIS including the play “The Cubes Circus”. More details here.
