Communist heroes go into service with advertising

As we can read in polish Dziennik and in english followthemedia.com, russian web portal „Russia Today” is using Stalin in the advertising action.

Russia Today has been running a “different” campaign in English language newspapers using that great pitchman, Joe Stalin, with the slogan, “Proud To Be Different.” (…) “Stalin wrote romantic poetry. Did you know that?” Now that was just too much for Germany’s der Spiegel. “It’s about as subtle a message as a scenario in which German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle were to advertise with Hitler and the question: ‘Did you know that Adolf Hitler also painted?’”

As followthemedia.com writes, Spiegel quotes Margarita Simonjan, Russia Today’s editor in chief, saying the ad campaign has been very successful. “We knew that the Stalin theme would be ambivalent in the eyes of many. But it fulfilled its purpose wonderfully. The number of visitors to our web site has doubled.”

Using communist icons and aesthetics is still popular – it has not been judged officialy as it was done with nazi icons during the Nuremberg Trials.

In Poland everyday life, in country which was occupied during Second World War and after (far for 1989) by communists, it can be found many elements of communist past (names of the streets – which are Nuremberg Trials renamed, monuments and so). And of course – even in mentality, as writes Aleksandr Zinovyev and, better known for Poles than Zinovyev polish priest and philosopher Józef Tischner describing the term Homo Sovieticus.

In spite of this experiences, in polish media and city space advertisers are using communist icons to encourage people for buying products. Radio station Roxy.fm made a marketing campaign named Roxy Revolution. Your radio in your hands. using icon of Che Guevara.

As polish blogger Yarrok writes, an ad with Che was even placed on the building of Reduta Bank Polski (Bank of Poland), which during the Warsaw Uprising was a place of very bitter fight. Bank Polski (Bank of Poland) on Długa St. (left) is one of the few buildings on that street still standing. And for the commercial reasons it is covert by the huge ad… The pop-culture and advertising use of communist icons can not be stopped. There is maybe a spiteful history spirit matter, that anticapitalistic movement many years after has become a useful tool for advertisers.

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Kategorie: Formy upamiętnienia / In english / Świadomość historyczna