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Culture
Woody Allen Sues American Apparel Over Billboard Ad

Woody Allen Sues American Apparel Over Billboard Ad
Director is not amused by ironic posters
JessM

by Jessica Miller, April 1, 2008

3 comments
 
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American Apparel isn’t just about ad campaigns featuring half naked models in stretchy spandex – apparently, they’re also into Judaism. And Woody Allen is not amused.

The clothing company recently ran a series of billboard and Internet ads with an image taken from Woody Allen’s Annie Hall, with Allen dressed in Hasidic garb, his glasses barely poking out amid full beard and black hat. The picture is accompanied by a phrase in Yiddish that translates to “the holy rebbe.”A Hasidic Rabbi on a Billboard?: Woody Allen gives Rabbi Schneerson a run for his moneyA Hasidic Rabbi on a Billboard?: Woody Allen gives Rabbi Schneerson a run for his money

Woody Allen, who supposedly does not endorse commercial products in the US as a principle, claims he never agreed to take part in an American Apparel campaign and is taking the conflict to court. The Huffington Post reports that Allen has found the whole experience so “egregious and damaging” that he feels he deserves $10 million.

The bigger question is, what’s with all the Judaism, American Apparel? The Rebbe Allen billboards are just one facet of a series of Jewish allusions. The company’s website currently features a series of Yiddish lessons and a sexy photo shoot featuring none other than Hymie “Zaida” Charney, grandfather of American Apparel CEO Dov Charney. Gosh, that’s awfully Jewcy – maybe we should all go buy some spandex leggings!



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Ashmodai

Ashmodai

04/01/08 4:29 pm
Comments: 22
Friends: 4
That's really funny

But they misspelled הייליגער. It's heiliger with a gimel, not heiliker with a kof.



MaxKohanzad

04/01/08 4:51 pm
Comments: 141
Friends: 0
Mispelling is a dyslexic

Mispelling is a dyslexic thing - there is very little 'sound' difference between heiliger  and heiliker and additionally yiddish is a made up language - with MANY different pronounciations depending on dialect and part of Europe the style originates.  

But from a Kabbalistic perspective the letter koof / kof is the first letter of Koidesh - i.e. Holy therefore the Heiliker Rebbe makes sense.

Language sucks my brain out my ear hole part of my mind seems to ignore what it means to be human and love the fact that i don't care too much about it because that's really just the way i am currently in the state of your yiddish proes.

 

 



jewlicious

jewlicious

04/02/08 3:07 am
Comments: 116
Friends: 14
Skooled Ya

 We discussed the spelling issue nearly a year ago in the comments section on Jewlicious. For those of you loathe to click on that link, there was a discussion about the correct spelling. Basically the "lowbrow" Galicianer spelling of heiliger is with a gimel, while the "highbrow" Litvish spelling, the one used by American Apparel, is with a kof. The discussion on Jewlicious is of course a lot more involved than that. Also I put "highbrow" and "lowbrow" in quotes because, from my admittedly limited perspective, all Ashkenazic Jews are, or come from, geffilte fish eatin' shtetl yiddles. Trying to distinguish one from the other seems, I dunno, silly?

 Oh, one more thing, Woody Allen is a douche. $10 million my ass.

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