Ad's Hidden Meaning Calls Leader Killer
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - An advertisement placed in Monday's English-language Myanmar Times newspaper by a satirical art group had a hidden message calling the country's military ruler Gen. Than Shwe a "killer." It was placed by Danish-based Surrend, which has experience placing clandestine ads under the noses of repressive regimes, group member Pia Bertelsen said in a telephone interview from Denmark with The Associated Press in Bangkok, Thailand. The ad, published in Myanmar's commercial capital Yangon, looked like an innocent call for tourists visiting Myanmar from Scandinavia, with the drawing of a palm tree and sun and text praising Myanmar's "beautiful country and friendly people." At the bottom of the half-page ad was "The Board of Islandic Travel Agencies Ewhsnahtrellik and the Danish Industry BesoegDanmark," including the long Danish-looking word "Ewhsnahtrellik." When read backward it said, "killer than shwE." Bertelsen said the ad was a way to show even autocratic leaders could be criticized. "What we want to achieve with the ad is to show that there are cracks in even the worst regimes. That with art you can find these holes and fly under the censorship's radar and hit the despots," she said. To place the ad, Surrend presented themselves as an advertising company. The Myanmar Times was not immediately available for comment, but Bertelsen said the ad was designed in a way so it was hard for them to discover the hidden message. "We don't think they will be blamed. And also, The Myanmar Times is an important propaganda tool for the Burma regime so they are a part of the regime we criticize," she said. Burma is the former name for Myanmar. The Myanmar Times has weekly editions in both English and Burmese. It was founded in 2000 and is partly owned by the government, and like all media in Myanmar is censored by the Ministry of Information. Surrend has placed similar ads with hidden messages before, including in the government-controlled Tehran Times last December that spelled out "swine" below a photo of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The ad reads like a criticism of U.S. President George W. Bush, but the first letter of each sentence line up along the left of the ad and spells "swine" when read from top to bottom. "Our purpose with our art is not to make revolutions, but to poke fun at the despots," Bertelsen said.
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