Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?
Cashing in (literally) on the Trololo meme and on the fact that ‘lo‘ means ‘no’ in Hebrew, Israeli Union Bank recently released a TV spot that encourages you to leave your refusal-happy no-saying laugh-in-your-face bank, and join a bank that says yes (or ‘ken’):
Bank Igud TV spot – Geller-Nessis
After covering WIZO’s newest annual tradition of giving out a most-chauvinistic-ad award (2008, 2009), I thought I’d one-up myself and actually suggest a couple of ads for next year’s shaming ceremony. Following are two TV spots that caught my eye, one is gratuitously sexual in a let’s-find-an-excuse-for-leering kinda way:
Israeli Lottery – Gitam BBDO
The other is much less overt, much more complex, filled with misogynistic messages about work, kids, shoes and dieting:
Osem’s Lachmit whole wheat cracker – Gitam BBDO
I should probably mention that I have discussed these ads with a couple of female friends who did not see anything particularly shocking with these ads. They did note the ads’ sexist nature, they just didn’t think it was any different from most other Israeli ads.
Obviously, I disagree.
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
Israeli cable TV provider HOT has recently launched an ad campaign about its video on demand service. There are a dozen or so TV ads, but only one of them is the real McCoy: a short, smart and funny commercial that flatters the viewer’s intelligence while genuinely relating to the advertised product. Check it out:
The Hebrew caption reads: Watched an entire season of CSI
Since I usually only blog about offensive ads, I thought I would change the bitch-to-praise ratio by pointing to this rare catch. If you need your dosage of venom, go and check out one of the related posts linked below.
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