Smurfette Latest Victim of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Modesty Wars
Smurfette was censored from the original poster promoting 'Smurfs: The Lost Village' in order not to offend residents, according to the company distributing the movie.
Apparently, small blue humanoids who live in mushroom-shaped houses are not exempt from the ultra-Orthodox community's censorship. The latest victim of the bid to remove images of women from billboards in the Haredi-dominated Israeli city of Bnei Brak: A smurf – or, rather, a smurfette.
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As part of the publicity campaign for the new film "Smurfs: The Lost Village" launched on Sunday, the PR company Mirka'im – Hutzot Zahav censored the image of a female smurf from billboards in Bnei Brak. The smurfette does appear alongside three male counterparts on other billboards throughout the country.
The company distributing the movie, Forum Film, said that the PR company decided not to hang the original poster in Bnei Brak in order not to harm residents' sensibilities, adding that it is not accepted practice for images of women to appear on the city's billboards.