The only other place where the rulers enjoy so much approval is North Korea. A recently published Readers Digest study shows that over half of the Swiss have "strong confidence" in the Federal Council. This means that our government has twice as much recognition as those in other European countries. And even Roger Schawinski, who has been battle-hardened against the authorities since the Pizzo Groppera, used superlatives in the last "SonntagsZeitung": "The best Federal Council in a long time."
So far, so good. The last places in the Readers Digest study are much more alarming. Far behind at the other end - and probably behind the car lobbyists, journalists, butchers, hunters, car south korea rcs data racers, the SVP and the inevitable bankers - is the advertising industry. In step with the European Union, which is no consolation in these times. In a nutshell: the Swiss may trust Widmer-Schlumpf and Schneider-Ammann, but our advertising icons have lost all their bonuses.
It is very likely that only paedophiles and the Camorra receive even less approval. These are not the Easter presents that people like. Especially since 20,000 Swiss earn their money thanks to advertising. Around 3,000 agencies cover the whole country. Last year alone, almost 5 billion Swiss francs were spent on advertising. But the loud criticism of Zurich's bright red Sunrise tram shows just how little understanding the Swiss have for advertising. The population's wordless approval of advertising restrictions on alcohol and cigarettes does the rest. The advertising industry can do a lot, but it cannot advertise itself.