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Israel, Sex And Tourism
These were the wise words of Ambassador Arye Mekel, Consul-General of Israel in New York, responding to Israel Member of Knesset Colette Avital stating that Israel's new tourism marketing campaign was "pornographic." Avital was joined by Meretz party chairman Zahava Gal-On who stated: "It is unfortunate that the New York consulate thinks that Israel's relevance will be expressed by the use of naked women who are treated as an object, and not as women of substance who exude achievement and success." Please
note those names: Colette Avital and Zahava Gal-On. Remember
them well when you hear that one of three children in Israel
live in poverty. If you ever have a chance to email or meet
Avital or Gal-On ask them one simple question: what professional
experience do you have in international marketing? Ask them. "Will you support the children who are living in poverty in Israel. Their parents who work at hotels and restaurants, drive taxis, work in factories and sell food at local stores? Lastly, "do you know what pornography is?" Webster's dictionary defines pornography as "the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement." When one views beautiful and attractive men and women wearing swimsuits on a beach in Israel or on any other beach in the world, would they describe that as "erotic"? No,
that is not erotic! Give
us a break! The idea of showcasing scantily clad Israeli girls in a US "beer and babes" magazine - which made headlines here just days after the Hooters restaurant chain announced it was opening its first Israel branch on the Tel Aviv beachfront - previously came under immediate fire from the country's religious right, which bombarded Israel news websites with allegations that the government was degrading the Jewish state and promoting sex tourism.
The present Israel tourism marketing, advertising and PR campaign being waged by the Israel Ministry of Tourism and the Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs deserves compliments for being modern, creative and professional. Professional being that some of the most powerful and creative ad agencies in Israel and the US have worked on this campaign for close to a year. Utilizing tons of market research and dozens of scientific focus groups, the Israel Ministry of Tourism was made aware of what works and what does not. Eight months ago, Israel consular officials, Israel advertising associations and both Israel and New York advertising ad and PR organizations came up with a novel idea for changing Israel's war-torn, terrorism hit state's public image. Targeting American guys with disposable income to visit Israel. "We
have to find the right hook," consulate spokesman David
Saranga told Newsweek. "And what's relevant to men
under 35? Good-looking women!" "We found that Israel's image among men aged 18-38 is lacking," explained David Saranga, Israel consul for media and public affairs at the consulate, "so we thought we'd approach them with an image they'd find appealing." "When you see beautiful women, good-looking people, on the beaches of Tel Aviv, you understand that Israel has to deal with the conflict, it's true, and there are religious elements in its society, but there are also other things," Saranga told the UK's Globe and Mail. "I want people to know that Israel is much more than a conflict, that people in Israel have normal lives." The beautiful models in Israel, Saranga said, were a "Trojan horse" to present Israel as a modern country with nice beaches and pretty women. "Many Americans don't even know we have beaches," he said.
The unconventional public-relations offensive was the brainchild of David Saranga. He came up with the idea while staring at poll numbers that showed his country was not particularly well regarded in the United States, especially among those aged 18 to 35. The Jewish state was perceived as too religious and too militaristic for the tastes of most. But there was a silver lining hidden in the survey data. When asked how they perceived Israelis as a people, the popular adjectives were "rough" and "stubborn," but also good-looking. Hoping to capitalize on the latter, Israel's Foreign Ministry, with the help of two of the myriad US pro-Israel lobby groups, decided to speak to US men in a language they'd understand. Saranga began a long campaign to persuade Maxim to showcase Israel's other assets to its 2.5 million readers. Israel advertising and public relations professionals figured that Maxim readers wanted to live the Leo DiCaprio fantasy of finding a girlfriend just like Leo's Israeli babe Bar Rafaeli. So the Israel consulate in New York offered to fly over the lad mag's photographer to shoot some exquisite babes who, at some point, had been in uniform - and who were willing to get out of uniform for Maxim. Maxim magazine, which promises its readers "girls, sex, sports" and usually avoids politics and initially balked until provided with photos of 12 of Israel's top models. Maxim, the Israel Consulate and the pro-Israel communications organization ISRAEL21c and the American-Israel Friendship League celebrated their collaboration at the Marquee in New York with a show entitled: "Women of the Israel Defense Forces". But female Knesset members are incensed even by the party invitation, which features the consulate crest above a picture of bikini-clad Gal Gadot, a former Miss Israel. "Israel's image has been tainted by sex scandals involving high-ranking officials as it is," Avital told ynetnews.com. "I wonder if the best way to encourage tourism is by advertising sex." "It's a shame that the Israel consulate has not understood that countries of the Western world cannot market themselves through the use of half naked women," added Gal-On. Well perhaps Avital and Gal-On are not aware of Madison Ave's two most basic and proven tenets of what motivates consumer behavior. Sex and the fear of failure. When we say sex we are not talking sexual intercourse, we are talking attractive men and or women whose smiles are used to sell everything from soap to cars. And fear of failure can be seen whenever you hear or view an ad state: trust this product. For if you use another product you can die in a car crash, get food poisoning because what you bought may not be fresh and your watch could stop, making you miss an important business meeting. Toothpaste uses both factors. Have a sexy smile and you will attract all. If you don't use our toothpaste whitening formula you will fail to attract anyone.
Along with the bikini shoot, which is expected to grace the pages of one of its summer issues, Maxim will run an article highlighting tourism in Israel. Despite a warm climate and some of the world's most important religious sites, the Israel tourist industry has suffered in recent years as Palestinian terror attacks continue to scare off most travelers. Last summer's war against Lebanon's Hezbollah terror group, which saw Katusha rockets slam the north of Israel for 34 days, was another blow. "The only image of Israel that young men have in their minds from the last five years, since they were 11 or 12 years old, is of conflict, of the intifada, of buses blowing up. We want to show them that Israel is not a one-dimensional place of just wars and politics and conflicts," said David Brinn, editorial director of Israel 21c, an organization that lobbies journalists, usually at more austere publications than Maxim, to write non-conflict stories about the country. Mr.
Brinn said that his organization, along with the American-Israel
Friendship League and the Israeli Foreign Ministry, would subsidize
"all Maxim's expenses" while the magazine was in Israel,
including flights, hotel rooms, a bus and a tour guide. A model who participated in the Maxim shoot saw stripping down to her swimsuit as an act of Zionism. "The fact that I can represent this country makes me very proud," said Tali Handel, a 25-year-old former air force sergeant who only took up modeling a few months ago. Though she said she'd never heard of Maxim before, she expected the article would be "serious" and encourage young Jewish males living in the United States to consider moving to Israel. "I don't see anything negative about it. Nothing else brings people here, not Jerusalem, not the beautiful nature. People are not interested. So, I think it's okay to use something else to bring them." Actually, the Israel tourism campaign using beautiful sandy beaches, bathing suit sex and smiles as an effective marketing ploy began many months ago with videos created by Tel Aviv Internet viral marketing firm Keta Keta - creative and funny videos which have been viewed by several thousands worldwide on YouTube.com. Avital has asked Israel Knesset speaker Dalia Itzik for an urgent session to discuss the advertising and PR campaign. Knesset member Zahava Gal-On agreed, "It's unfortunate that the Israel consulate chose to emphasize Israel's relevance with a portrait of a half-naked woman, instead of one of women of substance and accomplishments." The Israel News Agency would ask the Israel public, especially those families which are barely surviving on 1,000 USD per month for an "urgent session" with Avital and Gal-On. These families would then ask Avital and Gal-On, who know nothing about poverty, how they would personally assist their children financially. One would think that Gal-On who was born in Russia would have some idea about hunger and poverty.
The Israel News Agency is providing Colette Avital's and Gal-On's email addresses zgalon@knesset.gov.il and avitalk@knesset.gov.il for these families to ask "what is your professional experience in international marketing, what is your relationship with Israel religious political parties and do you ever wear a bathing suit? Bottom
line, if the marketing allure of sex did not sell, this story
about Israel, sex and marketing that you are presently reading
would never had been covered by almost every media outlet in
the world to increase their own sales and circulation. Just
remember when it comes time to elect new members of Knesset,
that Avital and Gal-On did not want these monies from badly
needed tourism to Israel to feed the many hungry children of
Israel.
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