Oops: Kosovo ad proves embarrassing

Published 7:15 pm Thursday, February 16, 2012

Just before Kosovo declared independence in 2008, it unveiled a large statue in Pristina with the word “newborn” spelled out in large yellow letters.

So the government decided to feature that work in its video advertisement.

But when the ad began appearing locally on Internet some viewers said the statue appeared to be spelling the word “newporn.”

Kosovo’s government soon figured out why: blue paint that vandals have sprayed on the statue is blocking out some of its lettering.

But no problem: Just before the ad was to be shown on CNN-TV it was redesigned and now works just fine.