Germany Ends Nationwide Pep Talk
February 22, 2006
After thousands of minutes of air time, as many pages of newsprint, and -- likely -- as many people who took delight in trashing its message, Germany's five-month nationwide pep talk campaign has come to an end.
The privately-sponsored 30-million-euro ($25-million) campaign, "Du bist Deutschland" (You Are Germany) reached 58 percent of the population, according to a sample poll commissioned by the creators. Forty percent of those polled said they appreciated the television and print spots in which sports, literary, TV and film personalities urged Germans to take a personal stake in lifting the country' spirits.
But have they?
Journalists and late-night show hosts, who took delight in slamming the feel-good vibe of the campaign, certainly haven't. A campaign spokesman said it had been caricatured at least 300 times. The labor union IG Metall even printed postcards using the slogan to criticize changes in the labor market. It was mocked for being everything from "kindergarten-like" to Nazi-like, and got little support from the very industry responsible for its incarnation.
Mission accomplished
Creators Jung von Matt appear unperturbed.
"We reached our goal," wrote Oliver Voss, the creative head of the German PR agency in last Sunday's Welt am Sonntag. "We wanted nothing else than that Germany talks with itself and about itself."
But are Germans more motivated about solving the country's problems -- from bad attitudes to unemployment -- than before? The answer was nowhere to be found in the analysis by consumer-research group GfK -- and likely never will be determined by any study.
The creators don't seem to mind. After all, all publicity is good publicity. And with close to 40 million people happy with its message, Bertelsmann manager Gunter Thielen -- the campaign's originator -- thinks it's worth a second run.
But Thielen said he wouldn't continue to lead it. "It's time for others to push it forward," he said.
Given the study results, it shouldn't be that difficult to find someone.