Hamming it up for Chanukah

I was at a small gathering at my friend Susan's the other night, and she took a few moments to light the third candle on her menorah. Susan and her husband sang a song in Hebrew (which, as Susan pointed out, sounded just like the theme song for the old Western TV show, The Lawman. Those of a certain age - Susan and I among them - will sort of remember it: "The lawman came with the sun/There was a job to be done." Of course, I recalled the words as "came with a gun", which actually makes as much sense as "with the sun."). Susan then recited a beautiful poem by Rilke (yes, I had to ask).

It was a very nice moment, and nice to observe this bit of ritual with empty nester friends.

What's this got to do with marketing?

Not much, but I was over on Seth Godin's blog the other day, and he had this hilarious picture out there.

Maybe this is one of those urban legends, maybe not. I'm enjoying it too much to do my usual Scopes check.

Know thy audience.

It's really a Marketing 101, isn't it?

Sure, there are plenty of "cultural Jews", who eat treyf and celebrate Chanukah. As a "cultural Catholic", I get what that "cultural-name-of-religion-goes here" is all about.

But who came up with the idea of cashing in on a religious holiday by trying to push goods that are off limits to that religion?

Nothing, but nothing, is going to make ham Kosher for Pesach. Or Chanukah, for that matter.

So Happy Chanukah to those of you who celebrate it.