Original ad. 'A secular wouldn't understand'
Photo courtesy of Kikar Hashabat website
Ad censored due to 'mischievous eyes'
Haredi newspaper says new pretzel advertisement 'does not match our educational line'. Advertising agency source: Sick decision
Ultra-Orthodox newspaper Hamodia has refused to run an ad of the Osem food company due to the model's "mischievous eyes".
The ad was prepared as part of an advertising campaign for the company's new pretzel snack. It shows a haredi man winking as he hands the snack to the readers.
All other haredi newspapers in Israel accepted the original. Hamodia demanded changes.
The haredi advertising agency responsible for the ad failed to understand the newspaper's claim. An agency source even defined the move as "a sick decision", saying that "no one understood the newspaper's stance, especially in light of the fact that all other newspapers approved the original ad."
Original ad (R) and censored ad (Photo: Kikar Hashabat website)
A source linked to the newspaper explained that the sight of an adult man winking does not match Hamodia's educational line.
"A secular wouldn't understand," he argued. "Our newspaper is first of all an educational tool. The wink, along with the position of the presenter holding the snack in his hand, is unacceptable.
"We expect a grownup person to provide a more educational example, to sit and read a book or something. In the past the newspaper used the same claims to reject an ad showing a person drinking coke."
Moreover, the source added, the newspaper loses NIS 30,000 (about $8,300) a month due to its insistence not to publish the word "computer".
Eventually, in order to "fix the distortion," the haredi presenter's winking eyes were changed through graphic editing. In addition, the newspaper made a series of changes to the text as well.
Hamodia refused to provide an official comment on this report.
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