Fairytale motifs against disinformation before the election

Bremen Parliament, together with the Bremen Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the State Centre for Political Education, has presented an outdoor advertising campaign to draw attention to the dangers of targeted disinformation campaigns - often controlled from abroad - in the coming weeks until the general election. The media company Ströer is supporting the campaign and is displaying the motif in digital form on 57 screens throughout Bremen and Bremerhaven - on large sites such as Rembertiring or Am Dobben, as well as on smaller screens, including those at the railway station and in the Waterfront.

The slogan ‘Donkey, dog, cat, shark - disinformation changes history’ is an allusion to the fairy tale ‘The Bremen Town Musicians’ and is intended to raise awareness of the issue. The background to this is the warning from the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution that highly professional disinformation campaigns can be observed, particularly in the run-up to the federal elections, with the aim of influencing public opinion and ultimately destabilising democracy.

What was initially planned for Bremen and Bremerhaven will soon be shown in other cities throughout Germany. The campaign has been adapted for this purpose, with fairy tale titles that have less of a local connection to Bremen. Slogans such as ‘Bremer Stadtelefanten - Die Geschichte kommt dir komisch vor?’, ‘Schneeweißchen und Rosenkohl - Die Geschichte kommt dir komisch vor?’ or ‘Schneewittchen und die sieben Riesen - Die Geschichte kommt dir komisch vor?’ are planned. They will be shown on more than 8,000 Ströer screens in 177 cities. The campaign is expected to be seen several hundred million times.

People in the photo (from left to right): Thorge Koehler, Head of the Bremen State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Antje Grotheer, President of the Bremen Parliament, Thomas Köcher, Head of the State Centre for Political Education, Wiebke Carina Bleis, Bremen Regional Manager, Ströer.