Funniest Israeli Commercials: Hebrew University Encourages Calls to Grandma

One of the drawbacks of our technologically advanced society is that low-tech bubbes are often left waiting for phone calls from their kids and grandkids who are absorbed in Facebook and texting.

The U.S. branch of Jerusalem's Hebrew University wanted to call attention to the generational technology gap, and to its excellent high-tech reputation. So they came up with this funny commercial to drive the point home.

As Steve Lipman wrote in The Jewish Week,

A video on the website features an octogenarian identified as Judith Cohen who describes the “Would It Kill You to Call?” app she’s developed that will send periodic cell phone reminders to delinquent members of the mishpocha. “Do they ever remember to call their bubbe?” she asks. After seven days without a call, a text message goes out to the offender.

It seems like a great way to reach out and touch forgetful ones.Just one problem — the app isn’t real.

In online comments, many people said they thought the app “was real,” said Eileen Hume, chief marketing officer for the American Friends. Some asked, “where can I find the app?” Others responded with “a lot of laughing emojis and LOLs.”

The video came out of a brainstorming session on new ways to get the word out about Hebrew University’s work. Then came an aha moment. Or, in this case, an oy vey moment. What about a bubbe-centered video? “Everyone has a bubbe,” Hume said. “It’s a shared cultural experience.”

A casting call went out. More than a dozen actresses tried out for the role. Judith Cohen is played by Barbara Malley, an 84-year-old actress whose TV and movie credits include a nurse, a mobster’s mother and a “grandma.”Malley is not Jewish. She “nailed” the Yiddish accent and Jewish inflections, Hume said."

Enjoy!

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