"Jewcan Sam" | ||||
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Single by The Groggers | ||||
Released | February 13, 2012 | |||
Format | Digital download, music video | |||
Genre | Jewish music, pop punk | |||
Length | 3:07 | |||
Songwriter(s) | The Groggers | |||
Producer(s) | Jake Antelis | |||
The Groggers singles chronology | ||||
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"Jewcan Sam (A Nose Job Love Story)" is a single and music video by the American Jewish pop punk band The Groggers. The song and video, commissioned by Miami plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Salzhauer, follow a Jewish high school student being turned down by a girl because of his large nose and subsequently trying to correct it with rhinoplasty. Both the band and Salzhauer received heavy criticism for the video's portrayal of plastic surgery, as well as perceived antisemitic imagery.
The song's title, a play on Froot Loops mascot Toucan Sam, references the stereotype of Jews having abnormally large noses and needing rhinoplasty to correct it.
Lyrically, the song's narrator recounts his girlfriend promising him long-term romance if he will only "get [his] nose circumcised", telling him, "No matter what you do or how hard you fight / Pinocchio never got Snow White". The narrator himself expresses his wish to "[look] more like Tom Cruise / And less like Adrien Brody".
The song, intended as the debut single for the band's second album, was commissioned by plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Salzhauer, who had previously gained attention for his controversial children's book My Beautiful Mommy. In preparation for the music video, Salzhauer offered the band members free nose jobs; lead singer L.E. Doug Staiman was the only one to take him up on it.
The song's video, the fifth directed by Farrell Goldsmith for the band, was released to YouTube on February 13, 2012.