Firms support much-criticized Lidl chain with funny campaigns against racism in the Czech Republic

Apparently few people in 21st-century Czech Republic anticipated what might happen when a chain store used a photograph of a black model in an advertising leaflet. Discussions have been unleased online in which the racist portion of Czech society's "decent consumer patriots" found it necessary to soothe their nerves, so irritated by looking at a dark-skinned model in a Czech (!) flier, by sending to the Lidl chain many calls for a boycott, insults, and vulgarities.

The chain, however, has made it clear that racism and xenophobia have no place among the goods that people should stand up for. Now other firms, both domestic and international, have supported Lidl in its response to the racists by launching their own funny marketing campaigns about the issue, including Alza (the biggest Czech retailer of electronics and computers), the Rossmann chain of drugsores, the Connect IT brand of electronics, and Jägermeister.

The administrators of the Facebook page of the popular Czech Television series Trpaslík (The Dwarf), which is currently broadcast on ČT 1, have also posted content making fun of the racists. Hateful, vulgar commentaries have been gradually, randomly appearing on the Facebook page of the Lidl chain in discussions under other posts there, such as: "What kind of a darky do you have on that flier, you cunts? We're Czechs and we can't even stand the smell of darkies. I'll never shop with you again. Goodbye."

The posts have sparked a strong wave of disagreement from the chain's other customers, and the charge has been led by the Lidl management themselves. "Hello, we are living in Europe, in the 21st century, where different races coexist together. Because you will find Lidl all over Europe, we don't even see these differences. The more of the world you know, the greater your tolerance for others. That is why our models come from every corner of the globe," Lidl's PR department in the Czech Republic has responded to the racist commentaries.

The same answer was used to respond to this hatred and racism by the PR department of the Slovak branch of Lidl. The Jägermeister company is also clear on the issue, issuing an advertisement in Czech that reads "We use black models too" with the additional commentary "Color doesn't matter to us".