Schmock
What’s a site about Germany without the occasional Jewish reference?
A city official recently took offense when a local Israeli restaurant (no, it’s not kosher strangely enough) took epicurean license with the old National Socialist adage, "Deutsche! Kauft nicht bei Juden!" (Germans! Do not buy from Jews!). Well okay, it wasn't an adage, it was a command...and as my German grammar book so helpfully relays: "A 'bare' imperative is very direct and can often sound curt, if not a little rude. It becomes much more polite through the use of bitte (please), suitable modal particles and, of course, friendly intonation or even smiling." Of course, since the first of the year, smiling for your passport photo is now illegal in Germany...and yet perfectly alright, should you be barking orders.
...They came up with the following
A series of very nice pictures (red and black against an olive wall) displaying the phrases:
Germans—Drink with Jews!
Germans—Eat with Jews!
Germans—Party with Jews!
The name of the restaurant, Schmock, can mean a wide variety of things...and was also a tagline of Steve Allen’s, you remember Steve Allen (aka, "the most prolific composer of modern times"...responsible for the theme song of Picnic, and the Ocean Spray jingle—among other things).
They had a big discussion about the whole issue this week (because they LOVE to discuss). It was portrayed as advertising, which doesn’t seem to technically apply as these pictures are inside their restaurant, and not on the street somewhere. And what about German advertising anyway?
A city official recently took offense when a local Israeli restaurant (no, it’s not kosher strangely enough) took epicurean license with the old National Socialist adage, "Deutsche! Kauft nicht bei Juden!" (Germans! Do not buy from Jews!). Well okay, it wasn't an adage, it was a command...and as my German grammar book so helpfully relays: "A 'bare' imperative is very direct and can often sound curt, if not a little rude. It becomes much more polite through the use of bitte (please), suitable modal particles and, of course, friendly intonation or even smiling." Of course, since the first of the year, smiling for your passport photo is now illegal in Germany...and yet perfectly alright, should you be barking orders.
...They came up with the following
A series of very nice pictures (red and black against an olive wall) displaying the phrases:
Germans—Drink with Jews!
Germans—Eat with Jews!
Germans—Party with Jews!
The name of the restaurant, Schmock, can mean a wide variety of things...and was also a tagline of Steve Allen’s, you remember Steve Allen (aka, "the most prolific composer of modern times"...responsible for the theme song of Picnic, and the Ocean Spray jingle—among other things).
They had a big discussion about the whole issue this week (because they LOVE to discuss). It was portrayed as advertising, which doesn’t seem to technically apply as these pictures are inside their restaurant, and not on the street somewhere. And what about German advertising anyway?
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