The Czech government has unveiled a new PR campaign to raise awareness of the country's forthcoming presidency of the European Union. The campaign revolves around the sugar cube - a Czech invention - and includes a seemingly innocent slogan. But the phrase is highly ambiguous in Czech, and has left critics wondering what the government is trying to say. The government has defended the campaign which is now running on TV screens and billboards. In it, a handful of Czech celebrities - including the Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech - sit around a table and do amusing things with sugar cubes.
The Czech government has unveiled a new PR campaign to raise awareness of the country's forthcoming presidency of the European Union.
The campaign revolves around the sugar cube - a Czech invention - and includes a seemingly innocent slogan.
But the phrase is highly ambiguous in Czech, and has left critics wondering what the government is trying to say.
The government has defended the campaign which is now running on TV screens and billboards.
In it, a handful of Czech celebrities - including the Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech - sit around a table and do amusing things with sugar cubes.
Accompanying the images is a slogan that translates literally as "we'll make things sweeter for Europe". ... Translators contacted by the BBC suggested the most accurate rendition would be "we'll give Europe a taste of its own medicine".
Translators contacted by the BBC suggested the most accurate rendition would be "we'll give Europe a taste of its own medicine".
Plausible deniability... A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
You can see the spot from this page - there's a blue box in the middle with wmv and mpeg links. A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
