Knightly advertising games
There is something to celebrate. Business is going great. We've seen growth like never before in the history of Plakanda," said host Peter Gmür, who was in a great party mood on the meadows of Gockhausen.
Over 900 advertising people and customers accepted the invitation to these "knights' games with food and drink" just outside Zurich. They enjoyed fanfare music, the sound of lutes and a sumptuous meal of suckling pig, goose pâté, carp, wild mushrooms, hares, bread soup and other "boiled" food.
All these specialties were cooked by caterers Bernhard and Gaby Attinger from Rossweid in Gockhausen according to original recipes from the Middle Ages. As a further loss in the style of the time, 40 horses with knights, servants and damsels performed an elaborately staged tournament battle.
"The field of poster advertising can sometimes be compared to a battlefield. Nevertheless, the knights' games have been chosen as this year's motto without any particular ulterior motive," said Plakanda Managing Director Beat Sulzer, denying WerbeWoche's profound assumptions. "We discovered the new party trend in Germany," revealed Christian Dür. With his Visualix advertising agency in Zurich, Dür has been in charge of the Plakanda fetes, which are always surprising with new ideas, for seven years.
For those who were more interested in the crisp calves of today's football mercenaries than the metal-clad legs of knights, a modern bar with TV sets was set up behind the medieval tent city. After all, the European Championship semi-final between Holland and Italy was also on the program that Thursday. Among the Italy fans, Roger Furrer stood out with a lot of "Caliente". The music promoter from Sound Managers revealed that he wants to (re)export his Zurich festival Tropical to Havana for the first time this summer. Furrer is the first Western organizer to receive a permit from Fidel Castro's Ministry of Culture for such a festival in Cuba.
Robi Weber's small talk also revolved around a festival. The jazzy advertiser has been commissioned by sponsor Chrysler to set up a jazz café in Montreux this summer.
Not exactly a new festival, but at least a "class reunion" could be announced by Astrid Kägi. The recently elected managing director of the business magazine Boom has organized a meeting for all former employees of her former ZüriWoche on Thursday this week.
The conversations in a neighboring tent with Rafael Müller also revolved around a celebration, albeit one that some poster advertisers have missed so far. "APG, with its 100th anniversary this year, will probably have to go over the books again. In any case, APG will have to come up with something after this Plakanda evening," said the outdoor advertising specialist from Werbehaus Zürich, speculating on a possible next poster party. After all, the summer has only just begun...
Andreas Panzeri
