The nationwide contest Czech Republic Searches for President is over, every media outlet can boast of its discussion with the presidential candidates, and we decided to take a break from all the faces that adorn every column across the country. We've picked out five really weird marketing feats of 2022 and this time we're staying in our beautiful country. Get your favourite cup of coffee ready and join us as we hand out the Golden Raspberries of the marketing industry.
Politics: a guarantee of bizarreness
We would like to leave politics out of our Bystro completely after the intense onslaught of presidential campaigns, but we can't. It'd be like chicken and peppers, but without the peppers and without the chicken. The comrades in the Communist Party may not have been successful in last year's election, but they are certainly not giving up. In the fall they deployed heavy weapons in the form of print advertising throughout the Czech Republic. They wanted to highlight the government's inability to tackle the energy crisis. The government has simply put us in a situation where we do not even know who we are sleeping with. Not to mention that the main slogan, "Do you know who you're sleeping with?" is borrowed from the 1984 AIDS campaign. It certainly made more sense there.
Maggi will spice things up
We found out that Maggi was founded in the late 19th century in Switzerland. From this, one would infer that a company that has been on the market for so many years would have a wealth of experience in naming its products. It is a subsidiary of Nestlé, another large corporation, so we believe that the approval process for new products is sufficient. We honestly don't even know if this is last year's news, but we didn't discover DIABLITO until 2022, so it has pride of place here. Is it pronounced DIABLITO or DIABLITO? Why is the wrapping compound called that? What is the name derived from? Does it refer to the after-effects of ingestion? We have so many questions! Did no one really find the name strange or was that the intention?
The power of influencer marketing
Nowadays, anyone can become an influencer. You don't have to have a college degree, you don't have to have any school at all. You don't even have to be a famous actor, singer or athlete. You don't need virtually any talent. All you need is a following. That's what this is all about. Some influencers aren't the sharpest crayon in the pencil case, so there are some real treasures to be found in the depths of Instagram. Not tagging collaborations or breaking policies are a weak antidote, because quite often we run into very skewed moral values that can harm not only the influencer, but also the brand they are working with. In this case, the "electric cigar". Maybe this product could be sold right at the entrance to the crematorium.
The ideal of beauty?
The ideal of beauty is a very delicate subject. It used to be the girls with the Twiggy figure. Today, it's mainly self-love that's popular. So in campaigns we see models not only skinny, but with a few extra pounds. Sometimes even obese. In 2014, Winnie Harlow, a model known for a skin disease called vitiligo, was already a big hit. A year ago, Victoria's Secret again announced that they had their first model with down syndrome. And that's all fine, of course. But what's not okay is this campaign from Reserved. Is this a mockery of beauty trends or are their graphic designers drinking hard liquor on work time? We sincerely hope it's the latter.
Quality mattresses for all prisons
You made it this far? We'll reward you for that, because we've had this ace up our sleeve for a long time and we've just been waiting for the right opportunity. The top prize in our grand finale goes to Jiri Kajínek. When he was pardoned in 2017 and walked free in his famous bright green tank top, it only became clear how much influence he has. So it was clear that offers for commercials would start coming his way sooner or later. Czech Wikipedia even describes him as "Jiří Kajínek is a Czech murderer, recidivist, TV celebrity and influencer". At the beginning of last year, he became the face of proPOSTELE.cz, and thanks to that, we learned what would motivate Jiri to never flee Mírovo.
If you have any projects planned for 2023, don't be afraid to email or call us for a consultation. We can help you come up with a brief, find the right influencers or even come up with a whole campaign. Follow our work on our social media and see for yourself!
