Great way to advertise vodka--Christmas Quality, Hannukah Pricing

[Larry_Mudd]

When was it that Canadian Tire stopped running those ads? (They still have a Scottish caricature on their ‘money’, don’t they?)

Sent with my fat fingers using Tapatalk.

[MeanOldLady]

@Malthus

What I’m saying is that it is often the case that ethnic humor that ‘plays well’ within an ethnic community does not ‘play well’ outside of it; and that making a “Jews are cheap” joke falls into that category.

Well yes, I think most reasonable people can agree that you’re generally given more leeway in making fun of yourself or your group than outsiders are given. But no, it is not strictly verboten to poke fun at stereotypes of groups to which you do not belong.

I think this is a ‘truism I’m amazed is in the slightest bit controversial’ rather than a “Stupid oversimplification that ignores reality”, but I’m willing to be convinced otherwise.

You think what is a truism? What I was irritated by was this silliness that goes “If you make a joke about a stereotype, swap out whoever the joke is about with black people as a test of its offensiveness.” No, it doesn’t work that way. To say so supposes we live in some monotone theoretical world where we all agree stereotypes are bad, therefore if a comment or joke is mean and bad when made with regard to a certain group, it is necessarily mean and bad when directed at all groups. That, of course, is not how multi-colored reality land works where a comment may not necessarily be (as) offensive when made about one group, but is about another.

Also, referencing the stereotype of the cheap, greedy Jew is probably a tad more similar in obnoxiousness to anti-Black stereotypes than your characterization of “Jews are frugal and good with money”. That’s putting a rather happy spin on it, isn’t it?

Kind of, but the joke about the frugality of Jews goes both ways. Sometimes we get the Family Guy style “I Need a Jew” joke that supposes being Jewish will help you with your finances. How many times have you heard people joke that you should have a Jewish accountant or financial advisor? On the flip, people also say really ugly things like “Jew you down” or make otherwise nasty comments about Jews being greedy. The latter is so very not kosher. (Heh.)

Myself, I laugh at ethnic humour so long as it isn’t intended to be mean-spirited, but I also know that you gotta be careful about context etc. because many people interpret much if not all of it as mean-spirited. The right context for a “Jews ‘r’ Cheap” joke probably is not a billboard advertising Vodka …

Right. I reckon maybe I found it amusing because I didn’t perceive in the ad any mean-spiritedness. It was a joke in poor taste, yes sir, but all of their advertisements are in poor taste. Maybe they shouldn’t have placed it on a billboard due to the high likelihood of butthurtitude, but I chuckled.

[CarnalK]

@Larry_Mudd

It’s not too hard to imagine why someone who thinks of Hanukkah as an important religious observance would be offended by that characterization.

The thing is, it’s not a particularly important Jewish holiday. It’s also a tradition to generally get 8 cheap gifts for Hanukkah and one bigger more expensive gift for Christmas. Is that reality denigrating to Jews?

[Larry_Mudd]

Only that it’s easy to see that it might be expected to cause offense. “Your religious holiday is of a lower quality than this other religious holiday, and in context is lumped into the same category as cheap hookers, Snooki, and the worst parts of New Jersey.”

[Zeriel]

@Larry_Mudd

Only that it’s easy to see that it might be expected to cause offense. “Your religious holiday is of a lower quality than this other religious holiday, and in context is lumped into the same category as cheap hookers, Snooki, and the worst parts of New Jersey.”

Contrariwise, my Jewish wife has been known to bitch that Hanukkah is only a thing because it shows up at the same time of year as Christmas, and it’s really one of the more minor holidays.