Berlin gives middle finger to anti-maskers in tourism agency ad

[Judi Lynn]

Agency says it chose message that suits city’s outlier character but some politicians are critical

Philip Oltermann in Berlin
@philipoltermann
Wed 14 Oct 2020 09.07 EDT

Berlin has eschewed polite public messaging on the coronavirus in favour of a more direct reminder of the rules by flipping the bird to people who won’t wear a mask.

An ad placed in local papers by the German capital’s senate as part of a public information campaign shows an elderly woman presenting her outstretched middle finger to the camera, next to the words: “A finger-wag for all those without a mask: we stick to corona rules.”

In a city that prides itself on its Berliner Schnauze – the coarse-but-hearty “Berlin gob” – public service messaging could not afford to moralise from on high, said a spokesperson for Visit Berlin, the tourism agency that developed the campaign.

“We wanted to use a language that suits the Berlin character and that underscores the dramatic pandemic situation – and that we managed,” the spokesperson told the Guardian.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/14/berlin-gives-middle-finger-to-anti-maskers-in-tourism-agency-ad

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R