WATCH: Newman From ‘Seinfeld’ Returns to TV — in Israeli Ikea Ad
A beloved “Seinfeld” character made an unlikely reprise: in an Israeli commercial for the furniture giant Ikea.
In a short video for Ikea’s 2017 catalogue, Wayne Knight stars once again as Newman, Jerry Seinfeld’s grumpy mailman neighbor and sometimes nemesis.
Shot in Israel, the video features Knight lamenting the lack of respect for postal workers in modern society, as he deals with challenges on his delivery route, including having to resort to various schemes to hand out a piece of mail — and still not succeeding.
“But there is one day that makes me feel special, like Valentine’s Day for the florist, like the day after Passover for the baker,” gushes Knight.
That is the day the yearly Ikea catalogue arrives. As a group of excited Israelis gather around him, Knight, who speaks in English throughout the commercial, says a sentence that contains a single word in Hebrew: My life is tutim (strawberries). To Knight’s dismay, one of people gathered around him offers him grapes, not strawberries.
The line may be referring to Israeli artist Hanan Ben Ari’s hit song, “Our Lives Are Strawberries,” in which the singer complains about the difficulties of living in the Jewish state, while also acknowledging the positives.
Watch the commercial here:
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