Did Snickers’ Super Bowl Commercial Have Anti-Semitic Message?
Adolf Hitler is giving a familiar salute in the chilling black-and-white photo. But the caption above his head carries an unexpected message: “I Hate Jews. But I Love Snickers.”
The image is posted on Snickers Hates Jews, a Facebook page that sprang up after the junk-food brand aired a new Super Bowl commercial in which “notable Jewish comedian Richard Lewis transforms into some non-Jewish worker,” according to news site PoliticallyIllustrated.com.
In the spot, a tough-looking laborer asks Lewis “to cut some lumber and eat a Snickers,” PoliticallyIllustrated reports. “I’m just not feeling the wood cutting thing today,” an adenoidal Lewis replies. “What is the rush here? Is there a worldwide shortage of gazebos?”
The non-Jewish worker responds by offering a snack. “Here Tony, eat a Snickers. You get a little whiny when you’re hungry.” Lewis “eats the Snickers bar and transforms into an ordinary logger,” complete with flannel shirt and extravagant facial hair. The ad concludes by pummeling another Jew — Roseanne Barr, inexplicably screeching “Hey, my back hurts” — with a giant log (after which she whines, “Now my front hurts”).
According to Inside YouTube Search, the commercial became the fourth most searched for advertisement the morning after the big game.
While it’s hard to gauge the page’s sincerity, its message is spreading. Chicago Jewish publication the Lakewood View quoted unnamed “observers” as saying “the message is loud and clear… Jews are whining non team players. They have an agenda.” Another “observer” noted, “Imagine if they had shown an Asian unable to park his car, suddenly eat a Snickers and then suddenly become a great driver? What if they made the commercial with a Mexican acting lazy, they would have been shot”
An irate Lakewood View reader got the last word, though: “Is this serious?” read the online comment. “Get a life!”
Seattle-based “activist” Jason Rantz, who reportedly launched the page, did not respond to an e-mail requesting comment.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
