Tee-art

May 10, 2009 - 8:17 PM by Jessica · 3 Comments
Filed under: Art, Business, design, General, Israeliness

tmarket At one time, a cool Israeli tee-shirt meant heading to Lord Kitsch to select one with the Coca-Cola, Bazooka or a favorite sports team emblem emblazoned in Hebrew across the front, with one’s name in Hebrew ironed on across the back. Or, for the truly daring, a pyramid of Rashi-like script that included more profane language. (Not something this good yeshiva girl ever thought about buying.)

But as with so many other things, those days are long gone, replaced by a much cooler, hipper collection of tee-shirts made, seemingly, by primarily young guys who are also opening boutique tee-shirt stores across the nation. That collection came together on Friday and Saturday at Jerusalem’s HaMaabada space, when the annual T:Market peddled its wide collection of t-shirt makers and their friends — young clothing and jewelry designers — from far and wide. That is, not just from Jerusalem, as this is a countrywide affair.

The crowd was young, the shirts were mostly clever and funny and the mood was very upbeat, possibly due to the weekend timing and centrally-located bar selling beer and mixed drinks, even though it was only 11:00 am.

But what’s great about this new generation of tees and tee-makers is that their slogans are spot-on and funny, poking fun at a whole range of Israeli cultural idioms, from the army (think desk clerks) and the government to food penchants (think hummus, pickles and tomatoes), the Muppets (what is it about Israelis and the Muppet Show?), and a strong bent toward retro designs, which for this crowd means cassette tapes and Pac-Man.

The prices were decent, about NIS 50 and up per tee, not including the NIS 10 entrance fee, although that’s somewhat steep for the student crowd, as I was reminded by one of my younger friends. And as with any kind of Israeli gathering, while the mood was hip and carefree or sought to be, people with baby carriages were welcome and more than one stall operator offered to hold one or both of my boys while I tried on shirts.

So if you missed the Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem T:Markets, never fear. There’s another one coming up in Beersheva on May 20-21. Start planning now…

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Tags: Bazooka, Hamaabada, Lord Kitsch, Muppets, Rashi, T:Market

Bazooka Joe and Poochie

November 28, 2008 - 1:12 PM by Harry · 1 Comment
Filed under: Business, Food, History and Culture, Israeliness, Pop Culture

Bazooka bubblegum might not have represented a revolution in chewable candy back when the product line was launched over 50 years ago, but the brand’s use of mini-comics as an added-value piggybacking promotion was a stroke of genius. The Topps baseball card publisher hired comics pioneer Wesley Morse to develop “Bazooka Joe and his Gang,” an enduring and endearing ensemble of characters that has included the turtlenecked Mort, canine companion Walkie Talkie, Jane the love interest, Hungry Herman and Toughie (a complete and illustrated chronology of the development of these characters over a half-century is enumerated here).

Joe’s cheeky adventures and one-liners have hit it big in Israeli consumerist pop culture over the years as well, thanks to a licensing deal through huge food maker Strauss-Elite, the Israeli spin-off even enjoying success as an export back to the US thanks to its kosher certification.

The quest to keep Joe relevant has been an ongoing and international process, with baggier jeans added to the character’s wardrobe in the grunge- and hip-hop-loving Nineties and new plans to even get Barack Obama involved in Topps-marketed products.

Here in Israel, a marketing campaign costing NIS 2 million is underway to cast a new character to join the Gang, as YNet’s Hebrew website has recently reported. Young Israeli chewing gum aficionados are encouraged to pitch their ideas to the Strauss-Elite decision-makers via homemade production videos, with the winner to be unveiled some time in January.

YNet quoted Elite-Strauss marketing executive Gali Shabad with words of praise on the campaign, which she claims “connects the general public to a cultural icon that we all grew up with, through the use of an interactive marketing platform” (translation ours).

Hopefully the new Israeli Gang-member will enjoy enduring longevity – unlike our beloved Poochie, may he rest in peace.

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