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Melania Trump Donald Trump Marketing

Language school harnesses Melania Trump’s image for Croatian billboard campaign

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By John Glenday, Reporter

September 18, 2017 | 3 min read

A Croatian language school has alighted in the image of US First Lady Melania Trump to convince people to try their hand at English.

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Language school harnesses Melania Trump’s image for Croatian billboard campaign

The Američki Institut splashed a giant image of the Slovenian-born wife of US Donald Trump against a backdrop of the American flag in the capital Zagreb, asking passing motorists to ‘Just imagine how far you can go with a little bit of English’.

Devised by a Croatian creative the campaign seeks to offer a gateway to the tens of thousands of Croatians who are looking to emigrate to English speaking countries as well as those who remain at home working in the tourism sector.

An insider on the campaign told The Drum: “In no means is it some kind of political message. It's ambiguous, and I suppose a conversation-starter, but nothing more than that. The campaign aims to promote the American Institute as a place to learn English, find out about educational opportunities in the US, and participate in American-oriented events.

“This is a really low budget campaign. We bought five billboards (and only two were placed because of the rain). At 8pm on the day they went up, we posted a photo of one of the billboards on our Facebook page. The next morning the national media picked up on the story. Then Newsweek. And by that evening, after it hit the AP Wire, you could read about it in the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Telegraph.”

As yet, the White House has not been in touch with the Institut, The Drum also understands.

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