Vodka maker pulls billboard ad after crybabies complain

Can't anyone take a joke anymore?

We've been following this "story" for the past couple days, it initially showed up on Gawker when a "concerned" reader contacted the site to inform them of the billboard shown below:



The "tipster" alerted Gawker of this billboard for Wodka Vodka located on Riverside Drive in Manhattan, which pokes fun at stereotypes using a Santa dog and a "Jewish" dog with the tag line "Christmas Quality, Hanukkah Pricing". The complainer also mentioned that she would be contacting various media outlets as well:

"Perhaps you are also aware of the anti-Semitic stereotype that Jewish people control the media. Following the lead of your billboard, I have put stock in this stereotype and have taken the liberty of cc'ing several media outlets and news writers on this email."

Well isn't that just special, you go girl.

We figured that would be the end of it, seeing as there's much more important things to be outraged about than a silly billboard ad. But this persistent crybaby's efforts have paid off, as the company today caved to pressure and has taken the billboard down. From Yahoo news:

A billboard for Wodka vodka in NYC has been taken down and destroyed after complaints that the advertisement's message is anti-Semitic.
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Ron Meier, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, called it "crude and offensive. To use the Jewish holiday in dealing with issues of money is clearly insensitive and inappropriate."

Well that's a shame. You can't make a joke these days without everyone getting their panties in a bunch. And what was the point of contacting the media about this billboard anyway, it's not like it was some big secret the folks at Wodka were trying to hide, they put it on a giant billboard facing a major street for chrissakes. And one of the most ironic things about the whole thing is that Brian Gordon, head of the marketing firm (MMG) behind the billboard, is himself Jewish.

Score one for the whiny crybaby douchebags. If there's any silver lining to this story it's that it did give Wodka a ton of publicity, and we're guessing that the people who thought the ad was no big deal far outweigh the folks who need to untwist their panties. We're not big drinkers here at People Liking People, but if we ever do need to pickup some Vodka we'll be sure to try out Wodka's selection.

One thing did slightly bother us about this ad though, I believe they have used the stereotype the wrong way. When it says Hanukkah pricing to mean "Jew pricing", if we are to follow the stereotype that would mean that the prices would be high, a ripoff - not low, like they probably meant to illustrate. But I suppose that's a minor point and it's just a joke not meant to be dissected. Either way, the billboard ad is now down and the crybaby brigade can now focus their efforts on the next big atrocity.

Update: We've found a complimentary writeup in Forbes magazine from June 2011 about Wodka's quirky marketing & the success they've seen from it. You thought the Christmas billboard ad was in bad taste? Check out this one:


Escort Quality: Hooker Pricing.

Obviously the company isn't afraid to take chances and be a little bit controversial, it's a shame they caved in to pressure so quickly. If you're going to be bold, you gotta stick to your guns and say fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.

Dr. Bronner's Magic Peppermint Soap

We've just finished watching the documentary "Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox" streaming on Netflix. Ok we lied, we made it about halfway through. But that says more about our attention span than it does the movie, which was actually pretty interesting. Now we've seen this stuff in pharmacy chains like Walgreens and CVS before but never thought much of it and have yet to try it. But it turns out there's people who absolutely swear by this stuff - you'd think it was some sort of magic potion.

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap was the creation of Emanuel Bronner, an immigrant from Germany whose parents were both killed in the Holocaust. He was reported to be somewhat insane and was even institutionalized at one point in the 1940s. He started making the soap in the first half of the 20th century which includes religious and philosophical writings on the outside label, something he referred to as the ABC's of morals and "All-One-God-Faith". We heard so much about how great this soap was in the film that we decided to see if we could find any reviews of the stuff online to find out if it was really that good. We turned to Youtube and it ended up being a great resource.

First up is blueottlisa, she has very good things to say about the peppermint soap but starts off asking why nobody warned her about the tingling. Hmmm so this soap causes a tingling sensation? We want to try it even more now! She continues to say that after washing her face with it she decided to use it in the shower: "if I thought the tingling on my eyes was bad...this thing tingles ALL. OVER. YOUR. BODY." She goes on to compare it to a boyfriend of hers who used to eat a lot of pepper and then go down on her. Ouch! Be careful ladies!

Next up we have 1SEXYTINA1, with a video entitled "PEPPERMINT SOAP... *** FOR WOMEN ONLY***"



ooooo we're on the edge of our seat already. I feel like a kid again watching a rated R movie late at night after everyone's gone to bed. It really had us wondering though, does this peppermint soap cause people to have orgasms or something? Is that the secret nobody's telling us? Are people getting off on this shit? Unfortunately it's the exact opposite, it'll make your junk feel like someone just poured hydrochloric acid up your urethra. 1SEXYTINA1 offers some great advice and her delivery is great, but the main takeaway here is this: Do not use much of this soap at a time at all. One tiny drop should last you a week, and you'll want to dilute it in water. If you try using this stuff like it's any other soap you might as well set your naughty bits on fire.

Lastly we have genipha4life who offers what she calls "a commercial for my favorite product in the whole wide world".




- Good reading material on the bottle
- You can wash many things with Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap: your hair, brush your teeth with it, your bathroom and your clothes
- Can use it to relax, by putting it on a warm towel to be placed on your forehead

Alright alright, we're convinced. First thing tomorrow we're going to go out and get us a bottle of this peppermint soap. I'll probably pass on the brushing your teeth part of it though, yuck.