Carlsberg beer, in an attempt to attract more religious customers, has placed Chacham Ovadia Yosef on some of its ads, raising the ire of many in the chareidi community. Over the weekend, Carlsberg, owned in Israel by the Central Bottling Company (Coca-Cola Israel), distributed a calendar for the 5770 Jewish year along with the Shas newspaper Yom Leyom featuring pictures of Rav Yosef along with a Yom Tov message from him.The Carlsberg calendar is considered unprecedented. Frum marketers who saw the calendar were shocked, and several called it disrespectful.
Carlsberg started its marketing efforts to the chareidi community over the past year using the Neto advertising agency. The difference between this campaign and the normal beer brand ads, which focus on enjoyment and having a good time, is that the so-called chareidi marketing utilizes messages of the health value of drinking beer. This tactic enabled Rav Yosef to agree to appear in the calendar.
Another unique side to the advertisement is that Rav Yosef did not receive any direct payment for appearing in the calendar.
Carlsberg and other products of the Central Bottling Company are under the kashrus supervision of the Badatz Beit Yosef organization, which is Rav Yosef’s own kashrus supervisory body.
Carlsberg has sponsored a number of conferences and events held by Chacham Ovadia’s family members, and company executives visited Rav Yosef’s house in the past few months and received his brachos.
{Haaretz/Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}
