FB group calls for ‘racist’ cell phone ad to be removed

July 13, 2009 - 2:37 PM by

TV advertisements often have nothing to do with the actual product they’re trying to sell. Case in point is the new commercial for Israeli cell phone company Cellcom.

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The commercial, produced by the local offices of advertising powerhouse McCann Erickson, shows IDF soldiers on patrol along the separation fence who stop their jeep when it is hit by a soccer ball from the Palestinian side of the fence.

At first, they think it might be an attack, but when they realize it’s a soccer ball, one of the soldiers kicks it back over the wall. As they get back into their jeep, the ball bounds over the wall again. The soldiers say the equivalent of “game on!” call their friends on their cell phones and start playing with the faceless Palestinians on the other side of the wall.

The tagline says: “After all, what are we all after? Just a little fun.”

The first couple times I saw it, I thought it was a pretty cool idea, because if there’s one thing that unites Israelis and Palestinians, it’s soccer, and the commercial captured that quite well.

So, it was with some surprise when I saw a Facebook posting citing a new group that was started to get Cellcom to pull the ad, calling it ‘racist.’ The Facebook group, called “I too got nauseous watching the new Cellcom ad,” severely criticized McCann Eriksson’s use of the separation fence in its advert.

“We could go into the media messages spouting racism any which way, but if you have come here than you too think they’re uncalled for,” reads the introduction to the Facebook group. “The McCann Erickson copywriter displayed an unbelievable propensity for bad taste.”

According to the group, the ad is offensive because the supposedly “good” soldiers fear the possibility that the “monster living on the other side of the wall could steal the ball – but when the ball returns to Israeli hands, we discover that that monster isn’t fierce at all, and actually feels like playing with the soldiers – oh joy!”

I don’t know what commercial these airheads have been watching, but the ‘other side’ isn’t trying to steal the ball, it’s their to begin with. And so what, if when the ball returns to Israeli hands they realize that the ‘monster’ on the other side of the wall actually feels like playing with the soldiers?

Shouldn’t Israeli feel justified in thinking that there are people on the other side of the wall who would like to do them harm? Wasn’t that the reason for building the monstrosity in the first place?

I thought the commercial did a good job in expressing the views of many Israelis who feel that the people on the other side of the wall are a faceless entity which we know nothing about. If a soccer ball can create a moment of ‘fun’ for both sides, then let the security barrier be stocked with soccer balls.

What do you think?

Tags: • Category: A New Reality, General 

Comments

11 Comments on FB group calls for ‘racist’ cell phone ad to be removed

  1. Karin Kloosterman on Tue, Jul 14th 2009 10:02 AM

    2. I love the ad and think it would be a shame if it was pulled. It shows the human side of the soldiers, and of the other side on the other side.

  2. Eli on Tue, Jul 14th 2009 5:16 PM

    3. The only racism is that of the radical left wingers who ignore the fact that the wall was built to keep “the faceless” other side from blowing up our children(and has been very successful at that). I think this commercial diminishes that point that the Israelis are the ones “sealed in”. Imagine a commercial showing the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto getting a soccer ball kicked in from the Nazis. This is just another example of how the “yafei nefesh” of Israel are trying to re-write history.

  3. David-Joe on Thu, Jul 16th 2009 5:04 AM

    4. Any depiction of moral equivalence is despicable ought to be criticized and eliminated.

    How can anyone write that the human[e] side of Israeli soldiers is shown? This is allowing the enemy to set the tone. Israel is NOT the aggressor, but the defender and apologizing for that is shocking and plays directly into the hands of Arabs.

    The other side may be human beings that is merely a description. They are savages.

    Their intent is support and action that is aimed at one thing only – the destruction of Israel and the same goal that nazis had.

    Dump the ad in the garbage.

  4. Dana on Fri, Jul 17th 2009 6:53 AM

    5. Terrible ad, but calling it racist is ridiculous. And anyone realistic would know that a soccer ball would be the last thing being thrown from the Palestinian side..

  5. Kimberly Shaffer-Silva / Kalanit Chana on Sat, Jul 18th 2009 2:48 AM

    6. I agree that although we are in the midst of a terrible war with the “faceless other side”, if there’s anything that can relieve a little tension and bring a smile to the faces of our kinsmen on the Israeli side of the wall, then it should be allowed.

  6. Rebecca on Sun, Jul 19th 2009 3:20 AM

    7. This is a wonderful commercial! Everyone needs to stop overthinking it and chillaxxxxx! Obviously it is not racist, and obviously it is not “allowing the enemy to set the tone”….ok ok so it’s not so realistic- it’s a COMMERCIAL! Just take it for what it is–good advertising and an effective attempt at making a minor stride in bridging the gap between the 2 sides

  7. Gerbensma on Wed, Jul 22nd 2009 12:56 PM

    8. A nice ad, let people enjoy some of these enjoyments in daily life.
    Just keep the ad where it is…

  8. Frances on Wed, Jul 22nd 2009 5:36 PM

    9. I have not seen the commercial but read the description of it and I smiled. It is a beautiful concept. Sometimes an advertisement is just an advertisement and should be viewed in the spirit in which it was intended. There is nothing racist about it, the ad is selling cellphones not advocating Israeli policy.

  9. Libby and Len Traubman on Wed, Jul 22nd 2009 5:37 PM

    10. The ad reminded us right away of our experiences successfully brining together, face to face thousands of Jews and Palestinians. The soccer ball and the human responses were life as we experience it. Palestinian or Jew, the soul’s oldest memory is of uniion, and it’s deepest longing is for reunion – reconnecting over physical and social walls.

  10. Hanan on Thu, Jul 23rd 2009 12:32 PM

    11. This ad isn’t racist – it’s just amazingly insensitive. That isn’t a schoolyard wall they’re playing on, against, and over – it’s the separation fence for God’s sake, placed there justifiably to enhance and maintain our security, yes, but with some pretty serious ramifications, to say the least, for the many non-combatants (Arabs and Jews) on the other side. On the assumption that the originators of the great soccer-ball assault in the commercial are not terrorists trying to hit our guys with whatever they have at hand (or foot), why can’t we see their faces? Is it a group of young men? Maybe a father and son kicking the ball around? Or perhaps even a Palestinian “Bend it like Beckham” influenced girls squad? While it’s great to see the attractive cinematography of our guys having fun and enjoying the long back-and-forth passes over the wall, the faceless nature of the person(s) kicking the ball back every time makes this an uncomfortable, if not dehumanizing, piece to watch every time.

  11. joan on Thu, Jul 30th 2009 5:11 PM

    12. I agree with you, I’m not sure that the ball over the wall should be encouraged though, ‘the monster’ doesn’t always have very polite friends.

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