TEL AVIV – A hotel in Jerusalem is offering guests who conceive a child while staying in one of its rooms on February 29 a free brit milah (circumcision ceremony), bar/bat mitzvah, and wedding for “leap year babies.”
The idea was conceived by Hotel Yehuda’s PR team because of the double meaning of “leap year” in Hebrew, which translates literally as “pregnant year.”
“So, the idea was: Come to our hotel on February 29, and if you should get pregnant there that day, nine months later we will give the first two [winners] – who meet the terms with proper certification proving the pregnancy actually occurred on Feb. 29 – a whole package that includes a brit, bar mitzvah, and wedding itself,” Yossi Tzarfati, chief creative officer of Tel Aviv’s Agency 23, told the Jerusalem Post.
He added, however, that proof of conception at the hotel must be confirmed by a physician.
According to Tzarfati, the bizarre promotion is reaping dividends, with the video promoting the deal garnering over 100,000 views.
“We’ve got a lot of PR all over the place since we started this campaign on Friday morning,” he said, noting the hotel received nearly 1,000 calls in the last 24 hours alone. “Already 50% of our rooms are booked for Leap Day.”
“The funniest thing is that we have women on our Facebook page commenting to tell their husbands: ‘C’mon, let’s get to work!’” he added. “One woman posted: ‘I think it’s going to be noisy at your hotel on February 29. I want to see the manager now!’”
Another woman promised that if the hotel could guarantee her a baby girl, she would book a two week stay.
A third praised the hotel for the baby-making initiative.
“Israel is a country that does nothing to encourage birth, and finally somebody is doing something about it,” she wrote.
“This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Tzarfati quipped.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.