Maccabi health insurance distributed and posted an advertisement on Tuesday to closed WhatsApp groups in the ultra-Orthodox sector, which displayed a sandwich containing yellow cheese alongside pastrami. The non-kosher advertisement was quickly removed from the groups, and Maccabi notes that this error has been corrected.
Health funds maintain fierce competition among themselves for marketing in the ultra-Orthodox sector. This is a population that can be easily moved between insurances in a "clan-like" manner, thereby increasing the number of insured members – additionally, this is a population with significant natural growth.
Among other things, the health insurance employs "community coordinators" who help expedite appointments and schedule appointments in the ultra-Orthodox sector, open numerous branches in this sector, offer the ultra-Orthodox population swimming lessons and horseback riding under the coverage of child development services, publish advertisements in enormous sizes at rabbinical gatherings, and more. A source in the health system noted, "Apparently, someone at their advertising agency took a generic image and didn't pay attention. This is a serious mishap. The ultra-Orthodox saw this, it's hard to assess whether this will cause them damage with the insured members."
