Just a few more weeks before the March 17, 2015 Israeli Knesset elections and there are a lot of online and TV ads to review:
This Likud ad stars Binyamin Netanyahu as a BIBI-SITTER who cares about the children of the State of Israel. It was picked up by Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show in the US. Stewart did not show the final punch line however. The ad makes adolescent fun of Tziporah “Tzipi” Livni, former justice minister, and Isaac Herzog, known as “Buji” in the ad, the head of the center-left Labor party. In its next round of ads, Likud officials are expected to attack Kahlon and kiss up to low income Likud supporters. They believe it is important to crush the Koolanu party and its leader Kahlon, who might cozy up to Isaac Herzog.
This other Likud ad in which Netanyahu plays a Kindergarten Cop is very insulting and makes him look like an ass. Plus he says “Die Tzipip” which might mean “enough” or it might be a misogynistic threat. It also makes religious people with beards look childish.
Naftali Bennett – akin to a Tea Party candidate – does a grotesque ad for HaBayit HaYehudi: His party was recently barred from handing out Ti B’shvat fruit in Jerusalem by Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran, who heads the Central Election Commission. The injunction came in response to a petition by a Jerusalem resident claiming that the party’s plan to hand out dried fruit, as advertised on the its Facebook page, is in violation of electioneering laws, which prohibit campaigners from serving food or drink.
a more musical parody
I seriously dislike ads with undercover dress-up characters. In response to Naftali Bennett’s ad (above) in which he dresses up, the Meretz Party released an ad in which Zahava Gal-On, a Meretz leader, dresses as haredi attire. Then the scene cuts to a message which informs viewers that Meretz does not make fun of other Israelis – Their tag line is “Meretz works for everyone.”
In a Shas ad, the support lower wage workers, and do not insult Russians as they did in a past ad (at the bottom)
Yesh Atid goes for the intellectuals and to drinkers of espresso
In this ad, Netanyahu is placed in a video game and players are told to PUSH THE BIBI… but everyone loses
BALAD, has given up on animation:
And SHAS is not repeating their ad which insulted Russians from a few years ago
thanks dave.
finally i got someone to comment
i did not know that about the beard/kippah cartoon character
i am a lover of the use of metaphor in politic, ads and speeches.
But I still believe that making your opponents into children while you remain the BSD/teacher
and telling the female opponent “Enough” is misogynistic
Thank you for your correcting me on that Likud ad
and your due respect. i appreciate it
Tzippi Livni is going around the country criticizing and attacking Bibi at every opportunity she has including some rather sharp remarks with some rather angry overtones. That is where the enough Tzipi line comes from.
Aslo, the ad is not about relating to his political opponents as children (Herzog and Kahlon don’t appear in the ad), but rather his former coalition partners.
The point he was making was that he couldn’t effectively govern because of the political immaturity of his coalition parties and that if people want a stable, effective government then they should give Likud a large mandage so that they aren’t as beholden to numerous coalition partners (a point his has made over and over again, including at the press conference where he fired Lapid and Livni and announced new elections).
Larry, your analysis of the kindergarten cop commercial is a bit off. The child with the beard is not meant to represent religious people. The child with the beard is meant to represent Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who is not religious (note the child is not wearing a kippa). Each of the children are meant to represent one of Bibi’s former coalition partners and current election rivals, Lieberman, Naftali Bennet, Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni. All in all the commercial is quite clever and satirical. I am also puzzled as to how the “Enough Tzipi” comment is misogynistic. Livni often and ineffectually critiqued him while sitting as part of his coalition (which was why her critiques lacked weight, ergo the inflatable hammer). With all due respect, I think the commercial went over your head.