Monday, May 12, 2008

Sabra selling techniques

This vintage SNL clip of Tom Hanks is circulating among Middle East analysts this week, to mark the celebration of Israel's 60th birthday. It mocks the stereotypically brash Sabra vendors in New York with a 'Price is Right' sketch: contestants are forced to buy products they don't want because they can not resist the high pressure come-on, and haggling commences.
This heavy-handed bizarre bazaar manner does persist in some Israeli shuks, and even is remarked upon in the article (below) by a cabby who is put off by the loudmouthed antics of Israeli immigrants inside the US.
But on Izzy Bee's last visit to the states, only gentle Sabras were encountered, and always inside suburban malls, inevitably hawking cut rate Dead Sea salts and mud-packs with a smile. No bargaining. How times change.

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