ADL Slams ‘Hanukkah Pricing’ Vodka Ad

By JTA November 22, 2011

The Anti-Defamation League criticized the New York ad campaign of Wodka vodka for reinforcing anti-Semitic stereotypes.

The ads feature two dogs, one wearing a Santa cap and one wearing a yarmulke with the message ?Christmas Quality, Hanukah Pricing.? According to the ADL, the billboards were featured in several locations in New York.

?In a crude and offensive way of trying to make a point that their vodka is high quality and inexpensive, the billboards evoke a Jewish holiday to imply something that is cheap and of lesser value when compared to the higher value of a Christian holiday,? Ron Meier, ADL?s New York Regional director, said in a statement Tuesday.

?Particularly with the long history of anti-Semitic stereotypes about Jews and money, with the age-old notion that Jews are cheap, to use the Jewish holiday in dealing with issues of money is clearly insensitive and inappropriate.?

On Wodka?s website, other ads include a sheep wearing a sombrero with the message ?Escort quality, Hooker pricing.?

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