Final Word from Wednesday, June 10, 2009
ČSSD Chair Jiří Paroubek likes to brag about his campaign advisers from PSB, yet the American spin doctors failed to prevent a promising EU election campaign from turning into a calamity. What went wrong? Creative Director Eda Kauba of Euro RSCG wrote in HN in May that the ČSSD campaign was professional, perfectly comprehensible and well-tailored for the economic crisis. It was heads above ODS's, yet it was ODS that ended up hitting the home run. The problem, as Paroubek himself noted today in Právo, was that he became Public Enemy No. 1 among young people. PSB even saw the personal attacks coming, Paroubek told MFD. So why couldn't anyone do anything? Because for the first time, it became clear to many people that Paroubek isn't the right person to be running ČSSD. Now that this is out, all the spin doctors in the world won't be able to put the genie back in the bottle.[Czech Republic advertising Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates European Union parliament]
Glossary of difficult words
spin doctor - a spokesperson or adviser employed to give a favorable interpretation of events to the media, esp. on behalf of a political party;
to stumble - to trip or momentarily lose one's balance;
calamity - an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress;
heads above - considerably better;
to hit a home run - (from baseball) to score a success at something;
to put the genie back in the bottle - to reverse something that has already happened or that has become known.