strongly suspected the presence of animal fat in the cleanser which would have made the product non-kosher.
He found that in the New York market which served 1,750,000 Jews through 6,500 grocery, dairy and delicatessen stores with purchases aggregating millions of dollars each year firm religious customs and fixed buying habits were barring him from a highly profitable market. Even more annoying was the fact that the product contained no animal fat.
To quote Mr. Franklin:
“At the suggestion of a member of the Jewish press, a prominent rabbi was called in to investigate. He ordered a chemical analysis made of several dozen boxes of the goods bought at random. The analysis showed negative, so the rabbi visited the factory and gave the product his certificate—it was kosher.”
When the fact was widely advertised, especially in Jewish newspapers, increases in sales were remarkable in Jewish neighborhoods.
A biscuit concern went into a kosher cracker project, with a special box created, mostly printed in Yiddish, which brought dominance to the field.
Special attention to Passover trade is stressed, especially as to the activity of two large milk companies, which before such activity found a record drop in sales, because of the Passover. Since going in for special Passover labeled milk, that week brings actually more business than any other week of the year.
Recent activity on the part of a large department store to stock Passover goods especially in an entire department and subsequent success of the venture is described.
Mere translation of English copy into Yiddish is often not successful, the article points out.
“A shoe retailer a short time ago ran a picture of an odd-looking man with a stick to advertise golf shoes,” says Mr. Franklin, “although less than 1 per cent of the Jewish readers indulge in golf. In the English, the copy had said, ‘Feet under “par” make a game over “par”.’ This had been translated literally to read, ‘Feet under “par” make one over in the game,’ which simply didn’t register.
“Products adapted to the market, careful merchandising, copy and illustrations, especially planned for the Jewish readers, are essential.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
