Die deutsche Werbeagentur

Zur Abwechslung mal ein Post auf Deutsch... aus gegebenem Anlass, etwas über Werbeagenturen.


Ich hatte das (Un-)Glück einige Zeit in ener Werbeagentur als Texter zu arbeiten. Ja in ener sehr großen, internationalen, die für viele bekannte Marken arbeitet. Deren Spots man jeden Abend im TV sehen kann. Viel gelernt - wie entsteht ein Werbefilm zum Beispiel, von der Idee zum Storyboard zum Dreh, zur Post-Production. Viel über Marktforschung, Fokusgruppen, Strategie.

Aber vor allem viel über die Menschen, die in Werbeagenturen arbeiten. Und gerade darüber gibt es so viel Unwissen - vor allem in Deutschland, wo Menschen so wenig über die gesamte Kommunikationsbranche wissen. Was ist PR, was ist Werbung, was Marketing? Keine Ahnung, aber alles überdeckt von strinrunzelnder Mißbilligung. Die wollen uns doch nur reinlegen sagt, wie der Bauer 1920 auch noch 2016 der gebildeteFernsehzuschauer.

So herrscht natürlich auch ein völlig falsches Klischeebild von Leuten, die in der Werbung arbeiten: Glamourös und mit einer Aura- oh ja, aber auch eitel und oberflächlich. Und reich, sehr sehr reich. Mad Men hat Eindruck hinterlassen. Jeder Deutsche weiß jetzt Bescheid wie das läuft - und vergißt daß sich seit den 1950ern und vor allem seit den 80ern, sehr sehr viel verändert hat. Erst diese Woche hatte ich einen Twitter-Austausch mit jemandem, der mich belehrte, dass Werber alle auf Koks seien  und Ferrari fahren: "Alle die ich in der Werbung kenne, sind permanent zugekokste Hipster". Ja, man kennt sie - die Reichen und Schönen - aber ist zugleich selbstverständlich empört über das unmoralische Treiben.

Oh ihr naiven, klischeebegeisterten Deutschen! Wenn ihr wüßtet! Die allermeisten in der Werbung Arbeitenden sind nämlich nicht straight outta Mad Men in schicken Anzügen, sondern oft verkrachte Existenzen. Lange lange geisteswissenschafltiche Studien führten zu eben so langer Arbeitslosigkeit zum Beispiel, bis man durch Beziehungem den Job in der Agentur bekam. Falsche Anläufe - jemand sollte mal die Anzahl ehemaliger Sportlehrer in Agenturen publizieren! - Jobs als "fester Freier", "Freier" oder ähnliches sind an der Tagesordnung. Schlabbrige Jeans, selber gekochtes mitgebrachtes Mittagessen, abends der Fernseher, so sieht das Mitarbeiterleben aus. Und natürlich die Kollegen, inzestuöse Beziehungen von Menschen aus kleinen Städten, die wegen des Jobs in die große weite Welt gezogen sind und dort niemand kennen, klucken zusammen. Das führt zu Streit, Mobbing, aber auch zu Cliquen und Ehen. Die Atmosphäre ist gespannt und die Gänge (allerdings strahlend weiß und mit interessanten Design-Objekten ausgestattet) riechen nach Tütensuppe. Man macht viel gemeinsam. Wer das nicht mag, hat schlechte Karten.

Steht ein Pitch an, wird tatsächlich hart gearbeitet, oft durch die Nacht. Steht keiner an (meistens) herrscht gähnende Langeweile, die jeder durch Computerspiele etc. zu besänftigen sucht. Und dem Satz "Also bei uns ist voll Stress" - man will ja nicht wieder arbeitslos sein.

Alles in allem sind es meist armselige, unkreative Menschen die dort arbeiten. Und es ist ja nicht alles Kreation - weit wichtiger ist die Kundenbetreuung. Das sind hochorgansierte aber recht langweilige Menschen, die früher Chefsekretärin gewesen wären, aber jetzt (weil sie ihr BWL-Studium nur mittelmäßig abgeschloosen haben) nicht in der Industrie, sondern auf Agenturseite landen. Wesentlich schlechter bezahlt.

Also nix mit Koks, nix mit Ferrari - sondern was mit Kleinbürgern, provinziellem Stolz auf sich selber (nicht mehr arbeitslos, sondern kreativ!) und viel klischeehafter Mythenbildung. Viel mit Ressentiment, viel mit trübseligem, trotzigem Linksdenken: Man will ja nicht sein wie der ewig betrunkene NPD-Vater, der auf dem Sofa in der Küche die Bildzeitung las.

Aber natürlich hat man Dünkel und Anspruch - gespeist dadurch, daß das Publikum denkt man fährt Ferrari. So internalisert dann auch der verkrachte Kleinbürger das klischeehafte Image, von dem er selbst weiß wie falsch es ist.

All das nur ein bißchen als Hintergrund zum Fall Hensel und seiner Agentur.

Where Should I Emigrate To?

I will have to emigrate. Very very soon it will no longer be possible to lead anything resembling a normal life in Germany. Last week, an 80-year old woman was raped and robbed on a Sunday at 11am after a church visit. In the centre of Düsseldorf, a once pleasant and affluent town where I spent several years working in an advertising agency, riding my bike, going for walks, coming home late...normal things one does. None of those things would now be possible in Merkel's Germany. And that isn't acceptable. But as that evil woman vowed to stick to her guns (so to speak) and indeed will next week be visiting Africa to sniff out more possible Deals (as we've learned to call them) with African leaders, I have no choice but to leave this once pleasant, but now doomed country.

So where should I go? Where can I go?

• Britain. The obvious choice. My second home. Yet last time I lived there, I had to leave after 1 year: The combination of atrocious weather, Fridya night culture, ropey infrastructure and manky food proved too much. Enormous administrative, personal and financial efforts had to made to remedy a wrong move. Dare I give it another chance? Still, the prospect of a new promising Tory government is a positive sign, the North has to be avoided ( I lived in Edinburgh last time) and a general gritting of teeth might do the trick. Odds: 6/10

• Hungary. The country I spent the most time in this year. Very sympathetic due to personal ties and the politics of PM Orbán which I wholeheartedly approve of. Affordable. Beautiful, historically interesting. But: Language problems, the near impossibility of finding a job there, low wages. And atmospherically, I often notice a certain ennui in people there, a tendency to be negative and find fault with everything, and a general lack of joie de vivre. Odds:4/10

• Holland. Probably the country I feel closest to outside (the old, pre-Merkel) Germany . Although I have the vocabulary of a 10-year old, due to spending my youth there I can sound Dutch.  I always get the frisson of coming home when I'm there. The smells, the weird food, the "Hoi" - it all feels comforting. Yet: Is it that much better than Germany when it comes to chaotic migration? And is the prospect of living in a politically divided, almost sectarian country any better than living with Merkel's constant "Nazi" slurs?  Odds: 6/10

• Switzerland. A country I have no ties with and know hardly at all. What I've heard about it hasn't exactly filled me with enthusiasm. Vigilante neighbours, high prices, strange forms of protestantism. Generally I'd say - too isolated, inward-looking, resentful and stuck in a decade we know little about. And yet: It's affluent, realatively safe, has good infrastructure and the prospects of finding a job there are better than in most other countries. Not a place I like, but as I say - it's grit your teeth time. Odds: 6.5/10 

Beggars can't be choosers. And it will be necessary to make a decision soon. The next German government will likely involve a loony left party AND  the nauseating, destructive Merkel. I hope not to be in Germany when that doubly whammy hits.

So what do you think? If you're German, do you have similar thoughts? If you live outside Germany, can you recommend a country I maybe haven't thought of yet? Let me know!

Why Is Europe Deliberately Being Destroyed? My Take.

No other question has been bandied about as much during the last year as this: WHY? Why are European leaders (Mainly: Germany's Merkel) letting in a deluge of young unskilled Muslim males - unchecked, unregistered, uncontrolled?

The humanitarian argument didn't cut the mustard anymore when it became clear that most weren't actually from Syria (incidentally: Is shipping people out of the country the best way of dealing with a civil war?) but from Pakistan, India, North Africa and Central Africa - none a warzone. Then there was a spurious attempt to say those people were highly qualified workers and would boost the economy. (Laughable, no counter-argument necessary). Then we had the demographic ruse which is equally absurd: No more Germans? Hey let's take in 3 million Africans, I mean what's the difference! A "bums on seats" argument of the most primtive kind.

Okay, so the official explanations are clearly unsatisfactory. What does the other side have to say?

Having asked that question incessantly for a year, I'm probably familiar with every theory anybody ever had about this - from the banal ("Politicians are just incapable") to wacky ("It's a Zionist plot").
During this year I learned a lot about the New World Order, about the Bilderbergers, the Trilateral Commission and various other arcane subjects.

I also came across some familiar figures from the past, e.g. R. Coudenhove-Kalergi who is high on the list of being responsible for the catastrophe we're now experiencing. Personally, I always found him a fascinating historical figure, well worth a proper biography. I also find his quest for a pan-European movement quite sympathetic. (Also proposed by Hubertus Prinz zu Löwenstein - surely not a suspicious figure). Bearing in mind that Coudenhove-Kalergi was writing in the 1920s where such ideas were common currency, I find it hard to imagine that this highly-cultured man of letters would have advocated an invasion of illiterate brutalised Third Word Muslims into Europe. In fact, I am one hunded percent certain, he would not. He is absolutely the wrong guy to blame for the various idiocies of the Merkel-"plan".

So... this leaves us where?  I think when something is intensely puzzling  and you just stand there open-mouthed wanting to shout "You What???" 20 times, you have to pause, let it all sink in and look for the most likely explanation. Which is why I would exclude the NWO theory. Creating all this mess, in order to provoke a civil war to then beat that down and start again is just too SciFi for me.

The answer (and of course this is only my theory) is much more simple.

A politician with immense power, and a massive chip on their shoulder. Somebody whose first term in office was blighted by set-backs, frustration and constant humiliation. Somebody with a dodgy past they have to conceal all the time. Somebody with a name that isn't real. Somebody with a massive amount of anger. Somebody who is black, has strong Muslim sympathies, and exhibits many gay tendencies. (Nothing wrong with any of those, unless you yourself think they mark you out as a lesser being.)

So - you guessed it, yes, the 44th President of the United States - Barack Obama II. A person whose hatred of all that he is not, is so overwhelming, he needs to destroy what he cannot be or have. Barack decided that after his disastrous first term (and the momentously catastrophic decision of the American people to grant him a second) he would not repeat his mistakes. He started to engage in the Politics of Revenge.

By persuading gullible, slightly off the pace politicians like Angela Merkel who basked in the warm sunshine of his praise, to take in millions of young uneducated Muslims into their own countries, Barry achieved 2 things at once - improving the conditions for the Brothers after all, getting millions of no-hopers out into highly developed European countries where they will be alimented from arrival til death is no mean feat and probably guarantees him a place in the Muslim pantheon. Hail Barry.

Secondly, and more importantly, Barry made sure that he got his own back. Affluence? Destroyed. Peace? Destroyed by civil unrest. Safety? Destroyed by sky-rocketing criminality. Freedom of speech? Eradicated. Whites? Put in their place by fear  and institutionalised black racism. The civil society? Replaced by sectarian hatred.

The humiliation of Mr. Obama, President, engendered the biggest hate crime ever: The unleashing of the Muslim invasion of the West.

Barry, together with your obliging, slightly backward handmaiden Merkel you've achieved so much more than any New World Order fantasy ever could!

The Year of Living Dangerously

It is now almost a year that German Chancellor Angela Merkel unilaterally decided to waive the Dublin and Schengen agreements and thereby triggered off the biggest migration flow in the history of modern Europe.

Much has changed since those fateful days in early September 2015. I will concentrate on the changes in ordinary people's lives rather than the big events (Brexit!!) this decision has brought about.

During the long gloomy autumn months that followed that disastrous September, everybody was feeling absolutely stunned. I remember travelling quite a lot and constantly meeting people who looked perplexed and confused asking each other the ever same question "What is happening here?" There was no help coming from politicians - the official reason of "our humanitarian obligation" was quickly transformed into absurdity as migrants from Pakistan, North Africa and India were flooding Germany in ever increasing numbers.

Evenings were getting darker, and as reports of soaring crime became daily news, going out by yourself after dark seemed a distant memory. Pepper spray became a handbag accessory.  People were constantly looking over their shoulders rather than straight ahead. Whilst Merkel and her allies were calling peaceful demonstrators "scum" and actively encouraged people to sneer at "concerned citizens", Cologne NYE happened. You know the facts by now (against the explicit wish of the government who tried to hide, obfuscate and poo-pah those absolutely mind-blowing occurrences.).

The winter was spent raging against the forces that had made all this possible, trying to find answers, discussing it with friends til the early hours, going over possible scenarios,- and starting to think about leaving the country.

Suddenly it had become clear how vulnerable one really was. Things one had never heard ofbefore actually became frightening reality: Somebody can stand behind you on the escalator and burn your hair off with a lighter (happened in Berlin). Mothers carrying babies could be randomly stabbed (also in Berlin).Young women were admonished to dress decently so as not to "tempt migrants". Houses and flats that once seemed safe were broken into as if a window, a door, a fence were nothing - which  is true, they offer very little actual protection. But in the "old Germany" they used to indicate barriers - this is MY territory do not enter without permission. In the new Merkel-created society such barriers are no longer meaningful. If there's something to get hold of, hey....go for it! And don't expect help or even sympathy from German politicians. Victim-blaming is common currency now

Then the really terrible terror attacks happened, not just in Germany but all over Europe. Train journeys became fraught with danger. Innocence, carelessness, normality, sponaneity have all gone. Instead there is a panoply of crude and rather primitive propaganda slogans urging everybody to do more and get with the programme which is inanely called "Wir schaffen das" (We can do this!). Indeed in her most recent interview Merkel, asked about the increase in sexual attacks on women said "I think we as a country can cope with that".

Life in Germany has become dangerous since Merkel's foolhardy decision last September. And of course this year has seen similarly staggering numbers of immigrants, especially from Central Africa. Thank you Merkel!You have managed to change Germany completely and utterly. Life has become difficult, unpleasant and dangerous, all in one year. Well done!

Xenophobia - a Clarification

Today, I came across an article in the German Press which tells the story of a University Professor who horribile dictu is apparently publishing his thoughts on Twitter. His views, the article explains in a pained and worried tone, are not pro-refugees. They are therefore, the author points out "fremdenfeindlich" - hostile to foreigners, xenophobic. The article is here.

This got me thinking: The professor is against Germany taking in more and more and more (every day, c.3,000) refugees, migrants, asylum seekers whatever you choose to call them. 80 percent of those people are male and 85 percent are Muslim. Whether indeed this is a good idea, is blatantly more than debatable, After the horrendous incidents at NYE in Cologne, people are surely allowed to raise the topic in a more than questioning manner. Crime, especially sexual crime against women has risen dramatically. Other violent crime is also up, especially in formerly pleasant towns like Düsseldorf, or the said Cologne. People, but especially women are rightly afraid to go out on their own. The sale of pepper spray, maze, and demand for legally availablel self-defense weapons has exploded.

So far, so bad. Back to our tweeting professor. Why, in God's name should somebody who is not in favour (and says so publicly) of taking in millions of misogynist, violent males, who balk at the thought of shaking a woman's hand - refugees in asylum seeker's hostels even refuse to take food when it is served to them by a woman - but don't appear to have a problem with raping women, why then should he not be allowed to say so? Or even more illogically, be smeared as xenophobic? For that is exactly the one aspect the professor hasn't got a problem with - that those people are foreigners. He is not xenophobic - he is worried about the demise of tolerance in Germany.

Likewise, regular readers of this blog will know how much I detest xenophobia. They will also know how much I detest illiberalism and homophobic or misogynist attitudes.Which is precisely why I am against importing millions of Muslim males who are explicitly unwilling to integrate and who demand that their anti-Western views and behaviour patterns aren't just respected but made the norm in their newly adopted countries.

So quite why the German press wants to stigmatize people who are worried about society becoming ever more illiberal, intolerant and proto-fascist as "xenophobic" must remain a mystery. Or shall we say not so much a mystery: Plummeting circulation figures are making German media vulnerable: Government funding is only for those who are happy to be "gleichgeschaltet" and will spout Merkel's message.

Generation Emigration

How many times have we read about people from, say, Ireland leaving their country to start a new life in far-away places like Australia, the US or, like an acqaintance of mine who wasn't put off by the chill factor, and moved to the Canadian province of New Foundland because his academic career wasn't prospering at home!

Who would have thought that one day one would find oneself in exactly the same position. Whilst I've moved often in my life and am certainly no stranger to being an expat, I find this is now an entirely new situation:

Suddenly, ever since the beginning of last September, Germany (where I live) has changed. Within the space of  4 months, 1.1. million refugees have entered the country. Every single town in Germany has to accommodate vast numbers of mainly male Muslim immigrants.Container homes are being built. Twon centers are full of migrants who have nothing to do. And life has changed: You will all have heard about the terrible New Years Eve events at Cologne main station. Similarly horrifying reports have come up from other German cities, and are still emerging as I write. Today, it transpired that two teenage girls in a small town in the South Western corner of Germany were gang-raped by immigrants.

Life in Germany doesn't seem to be safe anymore - all of a sudden. And worse is to come: The forecast is for another 3 million migrants to enter the country in 2016. This would all be bad enough, as there simply isn't any room here anymore, and already newcomers have to be put up in shelters and gyms which are hardly fit for purposes.

Worse, or at least just as menacing, I find another terrible change which has occurred in Germany: The media, the police, officials etc. cannot be trusted anymore. Whilst this has been clear for a while (what for example with varying reasons for the chaotic mass immigration being given - Gemany needs young people, Germany needs qualified workers, oh no it's all a humanitarian imperative, and so on) the events of NYE have proven this suspicion to be fact-based without the shadow of a doubt. Police and media now admit to having neglected to report the real catastrophic extent of the events. Rapes, gropes, robbings, theft, assault, injuries were brushed under the carpet, and only came to light when the pressure of eyewitness and social media reports proved too strong.

So, one suddenly finds oneself living in a country where the dangers of uncontrolled mass immigration are being denied, and victim's are supposed to just get one with it whilst being urged to shut up so as not to "slander" innocent migrants. Germany, once again seems to have transmogrified into a totalitarian state where unpleasantness is being denied, coverd up, and where people who want to speak their minds will be intimidated.

I don't feel I can live in such a country much longer. And whils it will certainly not be possible to move overnight - jobs, family connections etc. standing in the way of rash and emotional decisions - I feel a normal life, such as people were used to here in Germany is no longer guranteedor even possible. I know for a fact that many many well-educated Germans of all ages feel exactly the same.

If Mrs. Merkel and her government can afford to lose people like us, and is happy to import unskilled, largely uneducated migrants from Islamic countries in extraordinarily large numbers, I wish her good luck. Meanwhile I'm thinking of where I shall be moving to. Stay tuned.