No alcohol today!

Alcohol is illegal in Lithuania. Well, it was - for one day - on 1 September. The Government decided to pass this law to counter alcohol consumption by young people by forbidding it on the starting day of the school year.

A month ago, on the plane back to Vilnius I was reading the Lithuanian newspapers to see what's going on or what I may have missed while being away. There was a piece of news that the Government had decided to ban alcohol on 1 September and thus make sure that students start the new school year in a more soaber state.

I didn't care much about this news as I thought it was just another ridiculous decision by Lithuanian politicians. I may have disregarded this absurd move at all if not the scene I witnessed on that "alcohol-free" day.

You may imagine that on the evening of 31 August (Friday) there were more drunk people on the streets of Vilnius than usual: everyone tried to make the most of the last hours before midnight after which noone was able to buy alcohol legally.

On 1 September (Saturday) afternoon I was having lunch at a Lithuanian restaurant. At the neighbouring table, a couple of Japanese tourists were silently studying the menu for some (virtually!) 30 minutes.

Finally, the waitress came to their table to take the order and in her not-so-refined English asked: "Are you ready?". The couple looked at each other and the man started by pointing at something on the menu.

"No alcohol today!", said the waitress coarsely and unfortunately this was all she was able to say to the tourists.

The Japanese couple looked at each other again, very puzzled. They obviously couldn't make it why they can't get a pint of Lithuanian beer at a restaurant.

I was watching them and could hardly help laughing. That was the point when I understood in full how absurd this alcohol ban was.

I sincerely believe in the good intentions of the Government but sometimes (too often?) its decisions go far beyond common sense.

Don't Do's in a Swiss hill escalator, Zurich, June 2007. Photo by Giedrius CP

Tree or no tree

A number of public procurement competitions in relation to the branding of Lithuania have taken place over the last few years and unfortunately most of them failed. The most recent one, designed to choose a logo for Lithuania, has turned into an international scandal.

Earlier this year the Lithuanian Tourism Development Agency announced a competition to develop a logo, a visual symbol, for the country. Advertising and communications companies participated in this competition and suggested their versions of the country logo.

The trouble began when the purchasing agency announced the winner of the competition. A local ad agency with international affiliation came up with a green tree with the word LIETUVA ("Lithuania") written below. I'd say, the visual solution provided by the agency is a matter of taste. But within a week it appeared that the tree is absurdly similar to the logo of the Canadian town of London.

The local media started a heated debate whether it is appropriate to choose a logo for Lithuania that is undoubtedly similar to London's symbol, whether it is a clear case of plagiarism or simply a coincidence, whether to avoid any confusion and legal implications the purchasing agency should disqualify the winner and pick the project suggested by the "second best" participant in the competition.

Some experts defended the drawyers of the tree others spoke of a clearly unethical case.

Finally, the municipality of the Canadian town of London was contacted and informed of the situation to get their view on the trees.

The Canadian officials said that they objected to Lithuania using a logo similar to their town's symbol. The response from the Lithuanian side was: we will check with the lawyers if there are any legal implications if the Canadian opinion is disregarded.

I once again feel pity for Lithuania, its public servants' inability to do their job right, and the fact that we still don't have a proper branding strategy for the country. Some of our neighbours have gone far beyond us in this field.

Why not pick the second-place winner in this competition and avoid all the hassle, not to mention the legal costs?

Trees in Lithuania and Canada. Picture from Verslo Zinios daily