The US First Lady has been featured on controversial billboards by an English language school.
The recent controversial marketing campaign of the American Institute in Zagreb, an English language school, featuring US First Lady Melania Trump, has not received the support of its main “star,” reports RTL on September 19, 2017.
“Just imagine how far you can go with a little bit of English”, say the billboards, which prominently feature Melania Trump’s photo. This provocative message is part of the marketing campaign by the American Institute, an association for the promotion of English and American culture in Croatia. According to the unofficial information, Mrs Trump has threatened a lawsuit and demanded that the billboards must be removed within 24 hours.
“The company which has created the marketing campaign is not familiar with Croatian regulations. The law and the Croatian Advertising Code are clear in a sense that nobody is allowed to use a person’s photo for marketing purposes unless there is a consent of that individual,” said Nataša Pirc-Musar, a lawyer for Melania Trump.
But, the face of Melania Trump is still featured on a number of billboards in Zagreb, at several locations where the ad has appeared, and the news about the controversial marketing campaign has been published by the world media.
As for the authors of the billboards, they were first very proud of their idea, but now they have gone silent. Still, their goal has been achieved: everyone is talking about them, although the campaign is just one step from finding itself in court.
“This is conducive for provocation and attracts attention, but we should also keep in mind that the message is offensive and undermines her image which she is trying to create with the American public,” said public relations expert Božo Skoko.
Croats are divided about Melania Trump’s billboards. “This is very good. People could improve their lives with foreign language knowledge,” said Jelena from Zagreb. “I do not think she is a person who should be used for such comparison. I believe she was quite fortunate to be able to marry a rich guy,” said Patrik.
Anyway, in addition to English, Melania Trump speaks Slovenian, French and German, so maybe the campaign will be expanded to these languages as well.
Translated from RTL.
