YES- to what?
Check out one of the latest commercials from YES, one of Israel’s internet/communications companies. I’ll leave the commentary to you, dear readers.
FYI, someone with better ears than I have says the lyrics are:
Oy Vey, the toevah is here
He said Oy Vey
Now the detail’s so clear
YES brought HD
Groise Tate (Father in Heaven) please help
It’s a broch this HD on YESGevald it’s Sodom and Gemorah
HDTV- it’s against the Torah
HDTV- oy voi voi voi
Now the shiksas look well
You will all go to hell
Or in Hebrew “yishmor HaKel” (God save us)Cause the HD is now on YES
seriously, WTF?
—shmuel · December 10th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
[...] on Yes Jump to Comments This is just too [...]
—HD on Yes « · December 11th, 2007 at 2:25 am
Wow. I don’t know whats in poorer taste, using hasidim to sell HD cable, or pairing Yinglish with the Village People. But I feel the need to scrub my eyeballs with lye.
—Radical Cleric · December 11th, 2007 at 4:32 am
Don’t you think the Hasidim would laud HDTV just as much as the apikoros types? Seriously, the Almighty would be able to beam in the next revelation straight to the non-believers! With crystal clear playback! Pause, next chapter, translate to French — very useful.
But they’ve got a point. No matter how much easier it might be to read the Big Guy’s words on screen, ain’t nobody going to get me to do hagbah with a 62-inch.
—Kung Fu Jew 18 · December 11th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
This ad could be viewed on several levels. On the most visceral level, it’s out-and-out hilarious, because it combines a well-known, snappy tune with the silliness of an entire community of Chassidim dancing in lock-step (with perfectly timed, complicated moves) to denounce something that couldn’t possibly trouble anyone in that community–since they do not allow the use of television sets! The impossible combination makes it uproariously funny, which is what YES was counting on. As far as I know (and unfortunately for the ad agency that created it at great trouble and expense), the commercial was banned in Israel because so many people were offended.
On a deeper level, those who were offended had ample reason to be. At the risk of overanalyzing a rather expensive but ultimately throw-away production, I must say that the underlying message is not only rather sinister, it reinforces some horrible stereotypes (and I’m not talking about the stereotypes of Chassidic dress and perceived behavior). It basically says “If the Haredim hate it, it must be good for chiloni’im” (secular Israelis)! It also conveys the message that “if it’s against the Torah, then it must be decadent. Decadent = hedonistic = it feels good. If it feels good, then we should do it”. It’s one thing for people to hold those views privately, but this ad is “in-your-face” reinforcement of the worst of Israeli secular “values” for their own sake. Some might say that this ad is a mirror reflection of much that is bad–and wrong with–Israeli society today.
—danny · February 10th, 2008 at 2:12 pm