Paddington Bear is famous for his marmalade sandwiches, but did Michael Bond ever imagine his intrepid friend would diversify his menu to include marmalade on matzah?
Paddington 2 opens in Israeli cinemas this weekend, and will be on general release throughout Pesach. As such the famous bear and his famous snack have to comply with the rules - and that means no bread. In some of the posters and billboards advertising the film across Israel Paddington Bear’s marmalade sandwich has been replaced with matzah, with the matzah shaped into a number '2' to match the original poster design.
Although no changes have been made to the film itself, producers Disney-Pixar are known for their attention to detail and country-specific adaptations. For example, in the movie Inside Out, Riley refuses to eat broccoli: this was replaced with green peppers in the version released in Japan.
However, the matzah posters are only displayed in certain, more religoius, areas of Israel and this isn't the first time film posters have been adapted to appease religious Israeli communites. Last year, a similar decision was made to remove Smurfette from posters advertising Smurfs: The Lost Village in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak - leading to outrage from secular Israelis.