Hasidic ad || In-laws from hell: A silver store advertisement

**TURN ON SUBTITLES FOR TRANSLATIONS FROM ENGLISH**

This ad continues with the same comedy theme we see in many ads: a tragi-comic male shlimazel, a complete buffoon, brings light and laughter to serious rituals by messing them up to enormous proportions. Here we find two families: the groom's family, which is respectable and well off and able to afford a beautiful new silver menorah for the head of household. And the bride's family, which is supposed to gift their young groom with a special large menorah for Chanukah for the couple would use for many years, if not for life. The typical menorah a groom gets is an enormous piece of silver, so the comedy sketch here shows an absurdly sad effort on the part of the bride's family. That's the joke - because no one in real life would come close to sending gifts as bad as those. But the joy of this ad is in making light of serious gift exchanges, and as always, showing the buffoon character in new unfortunate settings.

(By the way, the gag of a Hasidic man wearing a shopping bag over his hat when it's not raining is now a part of the costume for the buffoon character. I suppose it's like someone holding an open umbrella indoors. )

As always, the cast in these is entirely male and even the male child actors seem uncomfortable in front of the camera. In this very camera-shy community, only a segment of men has come around to embrace the limelight and perform. I've come to recognize the same few men in many of these ads.