Poland criticizes tourism campaign featuring Lewandowski and Eisenberg
Poland’s new state advertising campaign aimed at attracting tourists from Western Europe and the United States has prompted a predominantly negative reaction in the country. The video, under the slogan “Poland. More than you expected,” features footballer Robert Lewandowski, supermodel Anja Rubik, director Jesse Eisenberg and actor Nikodem Rozbicki as Frédéric Chopin. As Notes from Poland reports, Res Futura, an organization that monitors sentiment on social media, recorded 85% negative comments about the advertisement.
Criticism of the advertising video
The campaign was launched in mid-August by Poland’s Ministry of Sport and Tourism. The Polish Tourism Organisation explained that the slogan was based on research showing that foreign visitors are often pleasantly surprised by Poland.
Article author Daniel Tilles believes that the emphasis on potential tourists’ low expectations creates an insecure image of the country. In his view, the video lacks a coherent narrative and does not sufficiently showcase Poland’s diversity. In the video, Rubik does not speak, Eisenberg says only “Poland,” and Lewandowski says “More than you expected.”
Tilles also notes that the muted color palette and focus on Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science may reinforce the stereotype of Poland as a gray, post-communist country. He called the video a missed opportunity to tell, among other things, about Eisenberg’s connection to his Polish roots.
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Official’s resignation
Shortly after the campaign was launched, criticism also affected Barbara Mróz-Gorgoń, whom the government had appointed a few weeks earlier to lead the promotion of Poland’s brand. According to Notes from Poland, a report she prepared last year on creating a national brand contained significant errors, questionable methodology and unusual wording; parts of the text also showed signs of having been generated using artificial intelligence.
Mróz-Gorgoń, who later resigned, said that the document was the result of work by her and the team of the Marka Polska analytical center. The report, titled “Self-Portrait of Poles,” focused on how Poles perceive their own country, rather than on researching the views of foreign audiences.
Positive attention from foreign media
Despite the problems with state initiatives, Poland has recently received significant positive attention from foreign media and content creators. They write about the country’s economic growth, the return of Polish emigrants from the United Kingdom, Britons moving to Poland, and the development of InPost and ElevenLabs.
In Tilles’s view, this reputation is shaped primarily by Poland’s real achievements rather than advertising projects. He believes the state could support journalists, media outlets and institutions that are already telling audiences abroad about the country.
