It was supposed to eradicate grumpiness from Germany. Instead, the "Du Bist Deutschland" ad campaign flopped -- and the campaign's leaders became the global blogosphere's favorite whipping boy.
The idea seemed like a good one: an ad campaign to buck up the German spirit and remind the depressive citizens of Europe's largest (but struggling) economy that things really aren't all that bad. Ad agencies, newspapers and a number of celebrities donated some €30 million-worth of advertising space to the nonprofit Du Bist Deutschland campaign launched last September. Ads appeared on billboards and television, in German magazines and movie theaters, and they featured pictures of the German great and good. Beethoven and Einstein made appearances as did the boxer Hans Schmeling and figure skater Katarina Witt -- not to mention a luminous photo of a delicate human fetus devloping in the womb.
"Du bist Deutschland" was the motto on every picture. "You are Germany." You are talented, beautiful, intelligent, strong.
The aim of the campaign? "To fight grumpiness," wrote Jean-Remy von Matt in an internal e-mail to his employees last October. Von Matt, 53, is the Belgian head of Jung von Matt, the prominent German ad firm that spearheaded the campaign. The e-mail was written after the "Du Bist Deutschland" campaign debuted to nationwide disdain. "The thanks: grumpiness" von Matt continued in the cyber-missive. Fortunately, he continued, the ill humor "came only from the groups you wouldn't expect anything else from."
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http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,397008,00.html
:rofl: Let me confirm it: it was the stupidest campaign ever. The very people earning their money with hundreds of daytime (Jerry) Springer clones tried to sell a very right-wing ad campaign, basically saying: "Be proud! Oh: and work for less money".