Wednesday's Wacky Signs - My Toilet Is More Kosher Than YOUR Toilet
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME? (click on photos to enlarge)
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHERE THIS WILL END?
12 comments:
Gavi
said...
It's good marketing - same reason my laundry detergent has a hechsher. No halachic reason, but people show brand loyalty to products with a kosher symbol.
Most reputable kashrus agencies will try to explain that such a thing doesn't require certification, and that it will cost the company time and money. However, toilet bowl cleaner and laundry detergent providers are acutely aware of market realities and figure that they make up their hashgacha costs with increased sales volume...
It will only end when we kosher consumers wise up and stop insisting on hashgacha for products that do not require it. Which means actually learning the halachos and speaking to our poskim - two things which we as a community have a poor track record on.
People might want a launry soap with a chachsher if using it to was dishtowels. Perhaps they figure that someone might be using this on their sinks. But it anyway doesn't need hashgachah. Go figure....
I would go more with, they certify the entire plant because people want certification for dish soap. The thing that bothers me is the fact that the form says that it requires the OU certification. My mother clearly taught me that we DO NOT bring food into the bathroom and that would suggest that kashrut certification is entirely unnecessary for anything in the bathroom. But I do agree, what in heaven's name have we gotten ourselves into...
The only thing I could think of is that this company is getting a kosher certification so people would want to use it for Pesach cleaning. So then where's the OU-P? And why would it require a Kosher Certification in the first place? It's not like you eat off the surface!
I hope they are not trying to say that they'll drink out of the toilent bowl! eww! Reminds me of the story of the little girl who is playing house while her father is babysitting. She keeps bringing him "tea" to drink from her little tea set. When her mother comes home she says to her husband, "Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet bowl?!"
There is a problem here. The hechser expired according to the letter you postwed and they still have the OU on the bottle (unless its an old bottle). When will KAJ get in on this gig?
Shudder to think where this will end. Someone will accidentally see this posting and happen to report back to someone else who will tell it to someone else that toilet cleansers MUST have hashgocha. And then that someone will look at their cleanser and gasp because it only has the OU and how can that be kosher enough. And then that poor cleanser is going to end up with four hashgochas on it and some people still won't use it because it's not heimish enough. And then you'll invite someone over to your home and they will ruefully shake their heads and say sorry but they won't be able to come because they can only _____in toilets that use Moishe's Heimishe Kloset Kleanser. And then the whole mess is going to be taken to some Rav to pasken on whether or not we need stringent hashgocha on toilet cleansers, and instead of banning the idea of hechsherim on toilet cleansers he's going to ban toilets instead.
There is a new book that I in midst of reading, Kosher Nation, by Sue Fishkoff.
One of the things the book discusses is how kosher is sought not just by Jews, and is seen as desirable by other groups as well. People see it as a higher standard and more pure. Most kosher food is bought by non-Jews.
So perhaps in this case the company asked the O-U for certification for some other reason, such as to have an image as a more pure product, to increase their sales. And the O-U accomodated them, for a fee.
It should not be automatically assumed that it was a Jewish idea with a Jewish reason behind it.
It may not be for Jewish people. A lot of non-Jews equate "kosher" with "clean" or "green" or any number of other good things. In this case, the toilet cleaner is probably aimed at that kind of audience. Getting the certification is a PR act, not some wacked out new chumra.
12 comments:
It's good marketing - same reason my laundry detergent has a hechsher. No halachic reason, but people show brand loyalty to products with a kosher symbol.
Most reputable kashrus agencies will try to explain that such a thing doesn't require certification, and that it will cost the company time and money. However, toilet bowl cleaner and laundry detergent providers are acutely aware of market realities and figure that they make up their hashgacha costs with increased sales volume...
It will only end when we kosher consumers wise up and stop insisting on hashgacha for products that do not require it. Which means actually learning the halachos and speaking to our poskim - two things which we as a community have a poor track record on.
Lol..please tell me this is a joke. It has to be.
People might want a launry soap with a chachsher if using it to was dishtowels. Perhaps they figure that someone might be using this on their sinks. But it anyway doesn't need hashgachah. Go figure....
I would go more with, they certify the entire plant because people want certification for dish soap. The thing that bothers me is the fact that the form says that it requires the OU certification. My mother clearly taught me that we DO NOT bring food into the bathroom and that would suggest that kashrut certification is entirely unnecessary for anything in the bathroom.
But I do agree, what in heaven's name have we gotten ourselves into...
The only thing I could think of is that this company is getting a kosher certification so people would want to use it for Pesach cleaning. So then where's the OU-P? And why would it require a Kosher Certification in the first place? It's not like you eat off the surface!
I hope they are not trying to say that they'll drink out of the toilent bowl! eww! Reminds me of the story of the little girl who is playing house while her father is babysitting. She keeps bringing him "tea" to drink from her little tea set. When her mother comes home she says to her husband, "Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet bowl?!"
Um, parve?
So you know before you drink it and take a trip to the ER?
And I second anon on the OU required thing.
There is a problem here. The hechser expired according to the letter you postwed and they still have the OU on the bottle (unless its an old bottle). When will KAJ get in on this gig?
Wait a minute!!
I can't drink out of the toilet bowl without a hechsher?!
Where will I get filtered water from now???
Shudder to think where this will end. Someone will accidentally see this posting and happen to report back to someone else who will tell it to someone else that toilet cleansers MUST have hashgocha. And then that someone will look at their cleanser and gasp because it only has the OU and how can that be kosher enough. And then that poor cleanser is going to end up with four hashgochas on it and some people still won't use it because it's not heimish enough. And then you'll invite someone over to your home and they will ruefully shake their heads and say sorry but they won't be able to come because they can only _____in toilets that use Moishe's Heimishe Kloset Kleanser. And then the whole mess is going to be taken to some Rav to pasken on whether or not we need stringent hashgocha on toilet cleansers, and instead of banning the idea of hechsherim on toilet cleansers he's going to ban toilets instead.
PS: I like your site redecorating.
is this a joke?? shouldnt this be posted in Adar???
There is a new book that I in midst of reading, Kosher Nation, by Sue Fishkoff.
One of the things the book discusses is how kosher is sought not just by Jews, and is seen as desirable by other groups as well. People see it as a higher standard and more pure. Most kosher food is bought by non-Jews.
So perhaps in this case the company asked the O-U for certification for some other reason, such as to have an image as a more pure product, to increase their sales. And the O-U accomodated them, for a fee.
It should not be automatically assumed that it was a Jewish idea with a Jewish reason behind it.
It may not be for Jewish people. A lot of non-Jews equate "kosher" with "clean" or "green" or any number of other good things. In this case, the toilet cleaner is probably aimed at that kind of audience. Getting the certification is a PR act, not some wacked out new chumra.
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