It was only a casual sentence from the Prime Minister, but it made the two state parliament reporters of the SZ sit up and take notice. When Markus Söder called for happiness in difficult times in the last plenum before Christmas and praised the excellence of Bavaria, he said: “It’s the right mix of tradition and modernity, of high-tech and home, of Leberkäs and lasers.” The thing about the lasers and the Leberkäs made people sit up and take notice, because it sounds a lot like the old saying of “laptop and lederhosen”. Federal President Roman Herzog had once given it to the Free State free of charge, and the CSU under Edmund Stoiber made it an unofficial party slogan through constant repetition.
And in political Munich we know that the CSU would like to have a smart new edition ready with a view to the state elections in 2023; as a leitmotif for the country and, according to the CSU, of course for itself. A little over a week ago, the SZ dedicated a small ode to Leberkäs and suggested “Hashtag and Haxn” – but completely forgot the trend towards vegetarianism. So here’s a different variant: “Radi and rockets”.
That in turn has a reader of the mirror thought up, thank you very much! It is admitted that for a task like this slogan finding, the brainpower alone in the CSU, State Chancellery and SZ should not be enough. The magazine called for suggestions in a newsletter, “Leberkäs und Laser” had room for improvement. The countless answers made competition for every creative agency: “Handy und Hendl”, “Apps und Alpen”, “Obazda und Omikron”, “Weißbier und Wlan”, “Start-up und Stubnmusi”, “Blutwurz und Bluetooth”. Cheers to the swarm intelligence!
The fact that with all the ideas the CSU got a lot on the lid – toll, mask scandal, regulars’ table slogans – should not sadden them. On the one hand, a lot of non-country children certainly got involved here, who cannot even know that such a thing is not being done at all. On the other hand, the competition can only make Söder and his followers hopeful: It is not at all that people in the rest of the country are corrupted and despised, on the contrary: half of Germany is apparently extremely concerned about the prosperity of the CSU.