Berlin Tourism pulls middle finger ad aimed at anti-maskers.

Well, that will get your attention. Berlin's tourism authority created a campaign showing an old lady, wearing a mask, flipping you the bird for not wearing yours.

Translated, the ad says: "The raised index finger for those without a mask," and "We obey the corona rules."

Visit Berlin launched the campaign last month, urging visitors (and presumably locals alike) to wear their mask. The print ad was part of a larger Berlin Gegen Corona (Berlin Against Corona) campaign.

Visit Berlin's press release explained it further. Ramona Pop, Senator for Economy, Energy and Companies, had this to say. (translated): 

“Day after day, the restaurateurs ensure that Berliners and guests feel welcome and safe in our city, even in times of crisis, that they can enjoy culinary diversity and that Berlin remains livable for everyone. We must not jeopardize our previous successes in dealing with the pandemic - to which restaurateurs also contribute every day. Together we will bring Berlin safely through autumn and winter. With the new campaign, which is aimed at Berliners, guests of the city and restaurateurs alike, we want to use Berlin humor to draw attention to the distance and hygiene rules."

Apparently Berlin humor failed to connect, at least with the old lady index finger ad, which was an intentional choice of wording. Enough complaints occurred that they have pulled the old lady ad.

Berlin Spectator, on the other hand, wrote an op-ed praising the ad for capturing the sentiment and calling the criticisms "artificial," and questioned why VisitBerlin even apologized.

The campaign is brilliant in that it did exactly what it should have done: Got people talking.

I don't know how well the google translation captures the humor of the other ads in the campaign but I'm getting the gist, and i like it. Bravo, Visit Berlin.