Sat, Jul 04 2009
An advertising spot that is part of an print campaign that describes Bulgarians as having "fingers like large salamis" was given the Silver Lion award at the Cannes Lions 2008 international advertising festival.
The spot, titled "Bulgarians", was made by M&C Saatchi Sydney for Australian shirt-maker Herringbone and competed in the clothing, footwear and accessories category.
It advertises hand-made shirts and uses Bulgarians as an example of bad tailors. It advises to "never buy a shirt made by a Bulgarian. For the finest detail only buy shirts made by tailors with small hands".
The advert also features a photograph of three muddy and scruffy-looking males, with the caption Bulgarian Haute Couture.
So far, there has not been any official reaction from Bulgaria on the fact that the advert might be derogatory and insulting, even though the festival ended on June 21 2008.
M&C Saatchi's office in Sydney did not reply to The Sofia Echo email asking for comment on their choice of text and photographs for the advert.
One more ingenious scheme, this time by Ad Mobile, promises up to "300 leva per driver" in Sofia for driving about wrapped in advertisement.
Ataka and Order Law and Justice parties stage symbolic blockades at Bulgaria’s borders with Turkey on eve of July 5 2009 parliamentary election, while reports record influx of would-be voters and, it is claimed, flights are being chartered from Turkey.
In a blow against a problem that has been plaguing Bulgaria’s elections, State Agency for National Security and Interior Ministry say several people in a ‘major criminal organisation’ have been arrested for vote-buying, on the eve of the July 5 vote.
Barometer Info survey on July 3 2009, just ahead of the eve of Bulgaria’s national parliamentary elections, gives GERB 27.05 per cent and Sergei Stanishev’s Coalition for Bulgaria 19.09 per cent.
The exact number of people sacked from duty out of the 600 who refused to go to work on Monday is undisclosed, although reports claim that as of June 3 at least four people were told they were surplus to requirements.
Open your mind and face the unknown: the 2009 general elections in Bulgaria.