Scandal over trainer hovering above the Acropolis
Sportswear brand Adidas has triggered controversy with a drone display that showed a giant trainer flying over Athens. "It looked like the shoe was kicking Acropolis", Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said, insisting that the ancient temple complex should not be used for advertising purposes. However it later emerged that the drones had been launched from an adjacent area owned by the state, which had charged a fee of just 380 euros for the privilege.
Commerce triumphs over culture
For Avgi the drone display was nothing short of an act of vandalism:
“The magic of the star-filled sky was turned into a commercial. Because in the sky, as in savage neoliberalism, there are no limits, or at least that's what the companies that produced this new advert thought. ... In an age where markets and economic interests rule supreme, the Acropolis has fallen from its pedestal and gone from being a cultural symbol to being just an advertising backdrop promoting the key achievements of market culture: consumer goods and future rubbish. The shoe over the Acropolis was nothing more than a clear statement of market dominance.”
Advertising also falls under freedom of expression
Protagon can't understand why people are making such a fuss:
“This was an advertising image created with legal permission. ... The ad has already attracted a lot of attention, and the Acropolis is enhancing its exposure. Because that's what successful advertising is all about: it's a creative act that monetises whatever it can monetise, including whatever is offered to it. And in this case the Acropolis added to the consumer value of the advertisement. ... Under no circumstances should this moral panic come at the expense of freedom of expression - which also includes advertising discourse.”
Anything goes in Greece
Naftemporiki criticises that those in charge of managing the Zappeion site apparently approved the ad display without considering security issues:
“The parliament building, the Maximos Mansion [the official seat of the Greek prime minister], the ministries and thousands of people walking around the city centre are all close by. It's unheard of for someone to rent a public space and launch anything in any direction from there. But in Greece, which never ceases to amaze us, this is not the case. Here, anything goes.”