Advertising as cultural immersion, Lithuanian edition

My previous post, about a cool new Lithuanian music festival campaign, prompted my Lithuanian friend (okay, my only friend in Lithuania) to send me an interesting campaign from his former colleagues at Adell Taivas Ogilvy, Vilnius:

What?

My friends, if you even get a chance to meet a Lithuanian, buy him or her a drink. You will learn things .

Lithuania is a proud nation with an interesting history. It was one of the last pagan strongholds in Europe when it was officially converted in the late Middle Ages. Soon, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania became the largest country in Europe, incorporating modern-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia.

That explains the first ad.

This one is more obscure, but Lithuanians (the target audience) would get it.

From a tourism site:

Lithuania has long history and capital was moving along with the ruling power. The most ancient known Lithuanian capital was Kernave - until 13th century there was big settlement here located on 4 mounds facing River Neris. In 14th century Trakai became residence for Lithuanian Grand Dukes. Grand Duke Gediminas settled Vilnius in 1323 and the capital moved to the new residence where it is until today. Kaunas was temporary capital of Lithuania between World War I and World War II when Vilnius was occupied and temporarily outside frontiers of Lithuania.

Also, there was only ever one person who took the title of "King" of Lithuania: Mindaugas (ca. 1203 –  1263).

Whew! Covering international advertising can be a lot of work! But I always told people I got into this industry and stayed because I get to learn something new every day...

The white stork is a native Lithuanian migratory bird, the official bird of the country, and a big part of its folklore.

Which brings us to...

Ummm... uhhhh... any Lithuanians out there want to go grab a beer with me?

All ads via Ads of The World