Heritage, how the historic “even the rich cry” campaign was born
He appeals to Article 53 of the Constitution to bring back to the center of the political debate an instrument that has always been managed with extreme caution, even on the left. Cecilia Stradaleader of the Democratic Party in the European elections in the North West, evoked the Patrimoniale. “Everyone is required to contribute to public expenses based on their ability to contribute”, is what the Constitution states. Strada clarified his point thus: “I am not at all afraid to maintain that, when inequalities are so marked and on the heads of families is burdened by a high public debt, extraordinary interventions such as a capital injection are needed. This asset would not have any impact on large fortunes, it would not make them flee abroad. It is known that several personalities have already expressed their support. This is not rapacious communism. It’s fairness and common sense.”
Even the Rich Cry: The Brilliant (But Failed) 2007 Campaign
The last time someone went that far was in 2007. And it didn’t go very well. But that attempt at least allowed the creation of a communication campaign that remained in the annals of politics. “Even the rich cry.” Signed Communist Refoundation. The Prodi Government was moving towards the Budget, and the patrol of Fausto Bertinotti he fought in the Chamber asking for “respect for the program” to support the weakest. Which brilliant marketing and political communications company did Rifondazione turn to? The truth is that that campaign was designed entirely in house, by the communication department of the party itself led by Andrea Camorrino.
He proceeded to tell in detail how things went several years later Alfonso Gianni: “It was 2006. The budget was approaching. Rifondazione had a small delegation in the Prodi government and we knew that it would not be easy to implement measures favorable to the less well-off classes, because the litany of rigor had already begun, then interpreted by a figure of undoubted importance intellectual like Tommaso Padoa Schioppa,” he told the Huffington Post.
The idea born from a Mexican soap opera
The objective was to send a clear message to the “people of the left”. Having discarded hypotheses that were not too catchy, the path of irony was chosen. Starting from the observation that the previous budgets had been characterized by “tears and blood” for the weaker classes. So here is the short circuit: “Someone remembered the title of an unwatchable hit soap opera. It was a Mexican telenovela, considered by those involved in the sector to be the most important ever produced at the end of the 70s, entitled “Even the rich cry” (Los ricos tambien lloran)”. With the image of a yacht dominating the scene, to still be more eloquent.
But in the end the penalty line prevailed
How did it end? “The line of rigor prevailed and brought the second Prodi government straight to its premature end (the accident was the affairs of Mastella’s wife, as will be remembered) to the disappointment of precisely those popular classes who had voted in the hope of changing the situation”. Gianni concludes, speaking about the campaign: “D’Alema at the time defined it as more or less the most idiotic poster he had ever seen. On the other hand, even after years, I find it one of the best things that has been produced by left-wing propaganda in this unfortunate country of ours.”
As mentioned, few others from the parliamentary left have taken such clear positions since then: “The super rich? Go to hell”, he blurted out in January 2013 Nichi Vendola. But things didn’t go very well for him either. Now Cecilia Strada is trying again. Will she be luckier?
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