Photo via @fannypacksnacks/TikTok
November 10, 2021, 12:45 pm
A viral TikTok video reviewing Hanukkah pillows from Bed Bath & Beyond gained hundreds of thousands of views after user “FannyPackSnacks” pointed out that it seems like most of them were simply repurposed from common Christmas themes, or at least no Jewish people were consulted in their design. The video shows selections from the retail store’s website as the TikTok user points out how none of them make any sense from a Jewish perspective, including the first one showing a pickup truck bizarrely transporting giant dreidels in the back.
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“I am convinced that whoever is in the design department at Bed Bath & Beyond has both never met a Jew and doesn’t like Google that much. None of their pillows for Hanukkah make any sense and they’re all just Christmas, like, repurposed,” she says.
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“So this one says, ‘light love and peace on this Hanukkah,’ fine, but it’s a truck full of dreidels, which is like a toy you play with during Hanukkah.”
“Either it’s a very small truck or a very big dreidel.”
Multiple commenters quickly pointed out that the truck was likely used in its original design to transport Christmas trees, which would be size-appropriate for a truck like that.
The next entry is worse, featuring a blue sweater with a Star of David that says “don we now our Hanukkah sweaters,” which is a clear rip from the highly popular Christmas song “Deck the Halls” that includes the line “don we now our gay apparel.” Then there’s a pillow with a deer (kind of like the ones that pull Santa’s sleigh) with candles melting on the ends of its antlers saying “oh deer Hanukkah is here.”
The next simply says “oy vey,” perhaps the most well-known Yiddish phrase by gentiles, next to a Star of David, and basically means “oh no.” The TikTok user is clearly recognizing a strange negative pattern in the messages given by these alleged Hanukkah pillows.
“Why would you want that on a pillow? I don’t know.”
Another features a wreath made up of what are clearly a bunch of Christmas ornaments in different shades of blue that just says “Mazel,” meaning “luck,” from the Yiddish phrase “mazel tov” that has nothing in particular to do with Hanukkah, more often being said at weddings and other milestone celebrations. This is followed up by a pillow sporting a set of four dreidels strung up like mistletoe.
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Another features a llama dressed in a blue scarf and blanket with the words “fa la la llamukkah,” which is somewhat cute but also the use of “fa la la” is once again very much associated with Christmas and not Hanukkah. The final entry is just the flag of Israel.
“I, I can’t,” says the TikTok user while shaking her head. “I can’t.”
She has made several follow-up videos after many people commented on the original, including pointing out that it’s nice to see Bed Bath & Beyond trying at all instead of entirely ignoring Hanukkah, but perhaps just a bit more effort expended could have gotten them an actual Jewish person to design the pillows.
“So Jewish folks are a small part of the population, however it’s frustrating to see that literally zero research was done,” she says. “Just watching one episode of ‘A Rugrats Hanukkah’ would have cured most of these pillows. It’s frustrating to see Bed Bath & Beyond decided they wanted to make some money off of this two percent but they literally weren’t willing to Google what Hanukkah was.”
She also took the time to highlight what she thinks are good Hanukkah-themed decorations, such as a selection from Target, where they must employ at least one Jewish individual.
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*First Published: November 10, 2021, 12:45 pm
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