SuperVáclav is a tool — a marketing tool, that is — whose mission is not to exact vigilante justice on Czech evildoers and rouse the nation from its perpetual state of indifference but rather to sell a new generation of GoPro brand camcorders, whose slogan is “Be a hero.”
However, the Prague-based ad agency Volný radikál, which has done campaigns for Adidas and Puma, T-Mobile and Nescafé — as well as the Czech center-right party TOP 09 — said it was inspired not by the GoPro slogan but by the Fanatická štvorka (F4), a group of costumed Slovak “superheroes” who had long been running around doing what other people always dreamt of doing.
The Slovak answer to Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four were mainly famous for having breached the defenses of Bratislava Castle and replaced the national flag with their own in the dead of night.
©YouTube Fanatická štvorka sneak into Bratislava Castle and replace the Slovak flag
“The project had enormous untapped potential, but they made big mistakes: The boys from F4 invested a lot of talent and free time for something funny but utterly naive and embarrassingly carried out,” Volný radikál said on its website. “But it was also a special thing — the high quality of their videos, costumes and web site led many people to think that it was an advert!” ‘The [F4] project had enormous untapped potential, but they made big mistakes.’
In creating the SuperVáclav character, Volný radikál said it realized that if the videos looked too professional no one would believe that a Czech guy was really running around in tights and a cape chucking dog poo and pouring buckets of water on evildoers (people not cleaning up after their dogs, smokers at bus stops, etc.).
“So, if you want to advertise (with ‘viral’ potential) it must appear to be of very poor quality,” the agency said. “The advertising message? Whatever you do, buy a [GoPro] camera, attach it to your head — and BE A HERO.”
See related stories:
Czech caped crusader SuperVacláv unmasked?
Czech ‘superhero’ wages war on dog poo
