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Ads 101: A naked campaign

By Benjamin Thomas Cunningham
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
November 14th, 2007 issue

Bartenders and “alpha males” from trendy nightclubs, journalists and hangers-on were among the tastemakers invited to P.M. nightclub Nov. 9 for a party to roll out the newest Czech spirit: Fernet Stock 8000.

Daniel Farkaš and his “word-of-mouth” marketing gurus at Outbreak ad agency are holding the parties across the country to give the old Fernet brand a new image. In true ad-man style, these guys say they’re trying to give consumers “a voice” in their choices, not turn them into sheep.
But don’t worry if you secretly like the original, brown, medicinal-tasting stuff — it’s not going away anytime soon. The original Fernet has been known for years as a cheap working-man’s alcohol that gives a good buzz. Heavy drinkers are known to appreciate it as well.
Farkaš is now trying to create a different kind of buzz — the “marketing buzz” that will position Fernet Stock 8000 as “the next big thing.”
That’s a big task in a country where it’s unusual for companies to spend more than 10 million euros on any ad campaign, according to Šimon Leitner, head of Vizeum Connections, whom we met at the party. In Germany, hundreds of companies might shell out such money, Leitner says. In the Czech Republic, there’s just a handful.
But we digress.
Farkaš pulled out all the stops at the New Town nightclub, hosting celebrities like Petra Minářová, Miss Czech Republic 1996 (and Leitner’s wife); Jana Doleželová, Miss Czech Republic 2004; and Michaela Ochotská, an actress. The three tasted sweet, fruity concoctions and mugged for the TV cameras.
Then things got a little surreal, at least for the females in the crowd, as the event turned into a mix of tasting workshop and sex show.
“Bottle girls” (we can’t think of any other name for them — in big nightclubs around the world you buy pricey bottle service to get your own server and table) offered mixers, and poured free shots. Tasters then ranked the drinks they created with mix-ins like pepper, Tabasco sauce, citrus fruit slices, marshmallows and gummy bears.
Václav Šitner, a keeper of the original Fernet recipe, sat front and center with his buddies sipping pure, unadulterated original Fernet.
Czech Playboy writer Milan Kapec was hanging out with his colleagues and taking notes. A fire-breathing juggler dropped a fiery bottle on the floor and managed not to burn the place down.
Then came not one, but two, kontaktní striptease numbers.
We’re told that these shows are more common than one might think, with a friend suggesting that if a stripper takes off her clothes at a public marketing event, it’s still somewhat of a reaction to the way things were done (or weren’t done) under communism.
We don’t mean to sound prudish, but in the neck of the (U.S.) woods where we grew up, “topless bars” are the most public stripping anyone is allowed to do legally.
Enough said.  
The new Fernet tastes like a more smooth, refined version of Jägermeister. There’s also a similarity in the marketing: Jäger did one of the first guerilla advertising campaigns in the Czech Republic, post-revolution, putting up the trademark stag head sticker in all sorts of out-of-the-way bars and clubs in the early ’90s.
Congratulations to Outbreak for using a unique way to roll out a new drink. All things considered, it was a great marketing event — just not for the females in the room.

Benjamin Thomas Cunningham can be reached at bcunningham@praguepost.com


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