The Worldwide Rabbinical Committee for the Prevention of
Indecent Advertising has recently launched a campaign against
an advertising agency which has been plastering indecent,
offensive advertisements on billboards throughout Israel. The
entire Torah community has joined hands in an intensive
battle to halt this dangerous trend.
Offices of the Worldwide Rabbinical Committee have received
numerous complaints of late about such billboards throughout
the country, in total violation of an explicit commitment by
the company to refrain from such advertising. Torah-observant
Jews are deeply disturbed by this phenomenon.
An agreement was reached a number of years ago with the
advertising agencies to the effect that no indecent
advertisements would be displayed in public. The settlement,
achieved at the end of a prolonged battle, was conducted in
light of the appalling situation prevailing at the time which
caused unrest to many who saw how the street was being
inundated by the worst kind of indecency.
Many prominent activists joined the struggle and made all-out
efforts to curtail the offensive advertising. Meetings with
the heads of the advertising agencies were held over a long
period of time, during which they were apprised of the
severity of the offense. At the end of an intensive campaign -
- during which even non-religious groups, including women's
organizations, decried such advertisements, an arrangement
with the heads of the companies was made.
Despite the agreement, public billboards throughout the
country have recently again been plastered with appalling
posters. Many of them have been sharply censured by even
secular Israelis. The office of the Worldwide Rabbinical
Committee has received numerous complaints about this
situation. They subsequently contacted the advertising
agency, demanding immediate removal of the offensive
posters.
The activists made it clear to the agency that these ads
violated the agreement, and that if they continued to display
the offensive posters the committee would have no choice but
to take serious measures. Agency heads, trying to shirk their
responsibility for the offensive ads, refused to remove
them.
Committee activists have repeatedly contacted the agency, but
to no avail. As a result, they had no choice but to adopt
measures.
The committee is preparing to appeal to large food companies
and others to cut their commercial ties with this advertising
agency, in line with guidelines of the gedolei haTorah
and all the botei din tzedek of the stringent
kashrus networks.
The committee had recently become a New York-based worldwide
organization, since it has been proven that the worldwide
chareidi sector is united on this issue and complies with all
of the guidelines of the gedolei haTorah against
businesses which offend the sensitivities of chareidi Jewry
in this way. The chareidi sector will take stringent measures
against such companies on the consumer as well as on the
commercial level. The measures include a ban on purchasing
shares in these companies.
The committee has said that the cooperation of the chareidi
sector will be total, since many food products from Israel
are exported worldwide. They stress that a ban on these
products and services marketed abroad by Israeli companies
will encompass thousands of families, constituting a broad
base for the struggle for the removal of indecent
advertisement from our streets.
Though the chareidi community is most sensitive to this
issue, the entire community will benefit from decent
streets.
