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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

I hope my daughter
Grows up to be
Just like Shakira,
A strong confident woman
That must be caged
Before she can dance
Inside a glittery vagina.

I am having a philosophical discussion with a friend about what is and what isn’t worth writing about. Although I publish a comprehensive article now and then, I do not find it necessary to express my opinion every time and on every issue. I contend that in this day and age, pointing to things is service in itself -- especially nowadays when things move so fast, and you need them to accumulate and percolate before you can be articulate.

I just watched this new video by Israeli singer Lior Narkis and all I can do is point to it and say: Hey people, watch this! You don’t need to know Hebrew or even like this kind of music in order to fathom the ideas expressed in it. As far as I know this is not a spoof, but the official video for Narkis’ song Metuka (sweetie). If every scale needs to be calibrated, I assume this is an unintentional calibration of the misogyny scale (Damnit, I let my initial reaction slip…)