WATCH: You’ll Love This Vintage Forward Commercial

Image by Screenshot

By Forward Staff September 1, 2016

A black and white screen fades in, and a blonde woman begins speaking in Russian:

“The only Jewish newspaper with a bureau in Moscow, home of the world’s third largest Jewish community, is the Forward.”

The screen fades out and in, and another woman, this one with short curly brown hair, begins speaking in French:

“The only Jewish newspaper with exclusive correspondents in world capitals like Paris and Berlin is the Forward.”

Fading out and in again, a man tells us in Hebrew that “The Jewish newspaper with an exclusive news bureau in Israel is the Forward.”

A third woman tells us, this time in English, that “The Jewish newspaper with full-time exclusive news bureaus in Washington and New York is the Forward.”

A spectacle-clad man, in Yiddish, reminds viewers that “for 93 years, we have been delivering the best news coverage in Yiddish.”

The screen cuts to a print version of the Forward proclaiming “Gulf War Inevitable Between Yanks, Iraq,” and a commercial announcer tells us that “Now, after 93 years, it’s time to say it in plain English: for the most comprehensive coverage of world and national Jewish news, for exclusive reports, interviews, analyses, art, literature, fiction, and more, the direction to look is Forward. The Forward, the greatest name in Jewish journalism, now in English. Call today for home delivery.”

According to the Youtube video, uploaded July 31 2014, “Commercials for The Forward Newspaper written and produced by Howard Barbanel, 1990. One of three commercials for the Forward. Barbanel was Chief Operating Officer at the Forward.”

Watch the full video here:

The Forward’s staff contributors are listed in our masthead.

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