"A tribute to Swiss humor"

The waters are rising. Reto, the son of the Löli family who advertise for Media Markt, can (supposedly) be seen masturbating in one of the commercials. The ad has now had to be canceled due to some protests (Werbewoche.ch reported). But Reto himself doesn't understand the unrest surrounding his activities at all, as he says via the agency responsible, Demner, Merlicek & Bergmann: "I'm only doing what many others are doing under cover!". To reassure the public, the agency is now providing the answer to the question of what really happens under the teenager's blanket. Watch the exclusive video evidence here:

It remains to be seen whether this resolution can really calm the agitated minds. We went to Vienna to find out what the scandalous Lölis are really all about. The independent, owner-managed agency Demner, Merlicek & Bergmann employs 136 people and has 39 clients from 13 European countries. One of them is Media Markt Switzerland. Among other things, the successful agency leads the Effie ranking in the German-speaking world.

Harry Bergmann joined the creative company founded seven years earlier by Jan Demner and Franz Merlicek in 1976. As a partner and member of the management team, he answers the seven most important questions about Löli-Gate.

Advertising Week: Mr. Bergmann, your Löli campaign is currently under fire in Switzerland: Media Markt is taking the masturbation spot out of its program. Did you as an agency consciously take this step or even calculate it?
Harry Bergmann: If we had shown what was really going on under the covers from the start, I wouldn't be answering this question now. And it remains to be seen whether you can really calculate an interview with Werbewoche.

Swiss advertiser and ADC President Frank Bodin accuses the campaign of sexual provocation that is neither in line with the Media Markt brand nor with the communication idea. Is he right?
Honi soit qui mal y pense.

How did you, as a Viennese agency, get the "honor" of designing the new Swiss Nerv family?
We have had the honor of being the lead agency since the opening of the first two Swiss Media Markt stores. And we have had to defend this honor several times against the most renowned Swiss agencies.

Have the Lölis also been unleashed on their western neighbor with a bit of schadenfreude - perhaps as a payback for the many alpine skiing defeats in recent years?
As a former monarchy, we are in possession of an almost endless fleet of magnificent return coaches. Unfortunately, we are not aware that one of them has left the Schengen area for Switzerland. As Austrians, however, we see the campaign more as a tribute to Swiss humor, which we have come to appreciate very much over the years.

What many people are keenly interested in: Why does the father speak Basel German? Are the Lölis from Basel?
One of Papa Löli's work colleagues is actually from Basel. And the accent must have rubbed off somehow. However, we were unable to find out where the Lölis come from - despite asking several times in person.

In southern Switzerland, the name "Baluba" was chosen for the Lölis, which in retrospect turned out to be somewhat unfortunate. How did they come up with this name?
Let's put it this way: unfortunately, some solder made a mistake.

First of all, are you satisfied with the campaign so far - despite or perhaps because of the icy headwind that the Lölis are facing?
The icy wind you are feeling has more to do with the time of year than with the campaign. As far as satisfaction with the campaign is concerned, we are pleased that the campaign is obviously being talked about more than any other campaign currently running in Switzerland. We are satisfied with the large number of people who love the Lölis. Yes, we are even satisfied with the large number of people who don't love the Lölis. Because the Lölis embody the anti-world of Media Markt. But we are not about to promise that we will only allow joysticks to be used above the belt in the course of the campaign.

Interview: Thomas Häusermann