THE SERBIAN student movement Otpor (Resistance) has alleged that the Slovak political party Smer stole its marketing idea and used it in the latest Smer campaign ad.
The ad features Smer manager Monika Beňová as a desperate housewife unable to wash the stains out of T-shirts sporting the faces of current Slovak Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda and ex-PM Vladimír Mečiar. Smer leader Robert Fico comes to her rescue by bringing her a box of laundry detergent called Mister Order. Two years ago, a similar spot was produced by Otpor with a lady attempting to wash a T-shirt with the face of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
Fedor Flašík, Fico's controversial media advisor who worked for Mečiar during the 1998 pre-election campaign, denied that he had ever seen the Serbian ad. "I didn't copy it from anyone, and therefore I never asked anyone for a copyright," Flašík said.
