Maccabi Games: Shalom; Mazal Tov

M&C Saatchi Berlin commemorates the start of Europe’s largest Jewish sporting event – the Maccabi Games – on 28 July with the release of a two-spot caign.

Helmed by Moritz Laube of Embassy of Dreams, the ads highlight how Jewish culture has now been integrated and accepted in Germany – a far cry from when the Jews were banned from competing in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Instead, the spots – Shalom and Mazal Tov – celebrate the openness of German culture and the Jewish vocabulary.

In Mazal Tov, two tennis players are competing for the title when the referee asks for silence from the crowd. An audience member breaks a glass and the audience hilariously shouts ‘Mazal Tov’!

The second spot sees a group of swimmers take their positions ahead of a race. But before the whistle sounds, each sportsman kisses the cheek of their competitiors and introduces himself, creating a laidback start.

“Sport has always fostered connections between people and should be completely independent from politics,” says M&C CCO Björn Bremer when questioned about the inspiration for the ads’ humour.