Last but not least: Poetry in the midst of everyday ads
Edizioni Periferia has discovered a little gem: a prose poem by the artist Dieter Roth. The poet published it under the title «Das Tränenmeer» in the form of unassuming classified ads.
In 1971/1972, Dieter Roth placed a series of advertisements in the Lucerne city gazette amidst everyday ads for bus trips, hairdressing offers and constipation remedies that left many perplexed. He called his poetic miniatures "Tears". Taken together, these were intended to form a poem over 220 pages. Overall, the whole thing reads like a free variation on a limited range of motifs: tears, stone, sea, ship, words, language, wisdom, weeping. These are the words of an SDA press release. The sentences were not concerned with conventional logic and also betrayed a wild freedom in the context of the free advertisement. Under an advertisement for the Zürcher Kreditbank for help with money needs, Roth's advertisement reads "The sea of tears".
As Roth himself noted, his advertisement pages were "a big pile of junk". Even if they almost drowned in the sea of advertisements, they would certainly confuse readers in their search for cheap offers. However, the Stadtanzeiger stopped the advertisements of its own accord after 130 episodes. Readers are said to have protested because they felt disturbed or perceived the poetic sentences as aggression. Advertising today is creative, relaxed and open-minded - but an advertisement message that advertises nothing would probably still be irritating.
As Roth himself noted, his advertisement pages were "a big pile of junk". Even if they almost drowned in the sea of advertisements, they would certainly confuse readers in their search for cheap offers. However, the Stadtanzeiger stopped the advertisements of its own accord after 130 episodes. Readers are said to have protested because they felt disturbed or perceived the poetic sentences as aggression. Advertising today is creative, relaxed and open-minded - but an advertisement message that advertises nothing would probably still be irritating.
