The East European sense of humour
The news that the British government was considering running publicity campaigns in Romania and Bulgaria, aimed at discouraging migrants was received in differing ways, but the citizens of the two nations have responded in ways the British can understand, humour, irony and satire.
The Romanian news website Gandul retaliated with a hilarious campaign, encouraging the British to leave their rain drenched island behind and visit Romania for good food and civilized values.
‘Half of our women look like Kate. The other half, like her sister’ reads one of their spoof posters.
‘Our draft beer is less expensive than your bottled water’ declares another.
The campaign slogan is ‘Why don’t you come over? We may not like Britain, but you’ll love Romania’ was created by Mihai Gongu and should be soon visible around popular Romanian tourist sites, airport and hotels.
Gongu hopes his campaign will improve Romania’s image and will show Brits that Romanians are ‘exactly like everyone else’ and most of them are ‘decent, hardworking people who pay their taxes, in Romania, or in the UK’.
‘You have bad weather, no jobs, no houses? That sounds bad. Why don’t you come live here instead?’ ask another poster, while Gandul remarks ‘Charles bought a house here in 2005. And Harry hasn’t been photographed naked once.’
A group of Bulgarians have also decided to respond to the British fears with a more comparative, but witty campaign. ‘Not OK for the UK’ has a Facebook page where Bulgarian citizens regularly publish photos, comparing Bulgaria and the UK.
Starting with football wives, going through the ‘funny’ beach in the UK and ‘Sunny beach’ in Bulgaria, the photos not only compare, but also provoke and make you think.
One of them presents Michael Schields, a Liverpool F.C. fan who was convicted in Bulgaria in an attempt to murder a Bulgarian barman in 2005, and Plamen Petkov, the Bulgarian immigrant who lost his life, while rescuing a five-year-old British girl who had been swept out in the sea. The poster reads: ‘Being a human-definitely not your thing’.
Another Bulgarian posted a collage, showing a Muslim immigrant on a market, screaming ‘Is I Romanian? Is I Bulgarian? No! I are British and I say no fish for you’.
The Bulgarian creative work is provocative and witty. However, it also touches upon human values and, most importantly, it raises the issue of racism which haunts the UK and makes European citizens act unfairly towards other European citizens.
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