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EU Enlargement DG video still via Youtube

EU enlargement ads are back - and not so 'racist' this time

The new, improved ad to promote the “growing together” theme is in Irish cinemas now. What do you think of it?

WHEN THE European Union last tried to use video to promote the bloc’s enlargement, it went viral – but for all the wrong reasons.

An ad which showed a character in the vein of Uma Thurman in Kill Bill threatened by two Asian men and  a man in a turban was roundly criticised for seeming to promote “siege mentality”. The advertisement was eventually pulled by the EU and the Director General of the European Commision’s DG Enlargement Stefano Sannino apologised for any potential offence. He said the ad was “not intended to be racist”.

Irish cinemagoers may have noticed recently a return to promotion of EU enlargement with an ad popping up in the pre-film advertisements on the big screen. Although it was filmed a year ago, this ad has been receiving cinema outings nationally. Croatia is due to be the next country to join the EU, on 1 July this year.

What do you think of the ad currently doing the rounds? It’s called ‘So similar, so different, so European’.

via Boris Milicevic/Youtube

It’s certainly an improvement on this, right?

via articlesgirl/Youtube

Anti-racism group criticises bizarre EU enlargement ad>

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