The Nice Jewish Guys Calendar is a hit. Selling by the thousands. It might take on SI Swimsuit Calendar. Ok, maybe not. Nonetheless, this phenomenon is both serious and funny. There is a market for dating justa nice guy. I am guessing that a lot of these are flying off the shelves in the arms of moms and dads desperate for their daughters to find a nice Jewish guy. I sat down for a virtual interview with NJG Calendar creator Adam Cohen for the low down on the project, and his take on Jewish life.
What is your favorite Jewish thing to do?
Well I’m not in the calendar myself (only the genius behind it) because i’m not single. I have kids. So now my tradition for my kid will be to have a Hanukkah party each year. Christmas parties are easy. Everyone is having one. But for my kids, I think they will really have a blast playing dreidel and picking up on Jewish culture slowly. I’ll tell you how this party goes after the 8th.
Who is this aimed at?
Everyone. I never intended this to be just for Jewish women. Why? I think the “nice Jewish guy” is iconic. Every race and religion knows about them. These guys are like ambassadors for Jewish people. On our Facebook page and twitter there are a lot of Jewish people posting but there’s also lots of other denominations. They all get it and just love these guys. In a way, Nice Jewish Guys are rock stars ’cause they have been so overlooked and people are slapping their heads going, “yes, these are amazing guys and they are right under my nose.” Then they go on to tell me they have a girlfriend who needs one of these guys. I hear from lots of people in the UK, Canada, Australia too.
How to buy it?
It’s sold online at FredFlare.com, Modern Tribe, Shopkitson.com and Perpetualkid.com. It’s also in Kitson stores in Los Angeles.
Will there be a nice Jewish girl version too in the future?
I tried Nice Jewish Girls as a bonus in last years calendar. Peoples’ minds weren’t blown. Not sure why. I think what it is is that the guys are so funny because they don’t do ANYTHING to be funny. They just are. It’s the nature of putting a guy who you would NEVER dream of being in a pin up calendar and treating him like a hunk. That’s the brilliance… going against what’s expected. I think with the girls they’d have to play it up and be a cliche before they start to get funny. And i don’t want to denigrate or make stuff up. I just want them to be who they are. And with the women as a bonus in the 2012 calendar (you can Google it) it was eh. so so. So i’ve stuck with the guys.
Is this a stunt or do you really hope to sell some calendars?
This is very real. we sell thousands… not hundreds… thousand. I’m already in a second printing. I don’t even come close to retiring off of this but…. i get back my investment and then a small profit. Not bad for a side business. My day job is as a t.v. producer. [ED -Adam is a producer on Cupcake Wars]
Is there a cupcake of the month calendar?
There should be! Allas, we don’t tell the Food Network what to do with marketing. We’re their faithful servants. It’s up to them how they want to merchandise and promote. But if we did have one… it’d sell out i’m sure.
You didn’t ask but… yes… I get a lot of women asking me to set them up with a Nice Jewish Guy. Clearly I’m missing the mark with not launching a Nice Jewish Guys dating site. That’s coming next.
Also… a portion of the proceeds goes to Mazon, a Jewish solution to hunger around the world.
Thank you!
