Prague launches guide to fight “garish” advertising

The Czech capital Prague has published a new manual which aims to reduce “visual smog” by helping businesses better understand and follow advertising rules.

The Manual for Cultivated Prague provides an illustrated guide on the rules for advertising in shops and outdoors, including new regulations for city-owned buildings which were adopted at the end of last year and are now included in lease agreements.

The document, which stresses that “Prague is not Disneyland”, also offers guidance on how to obtain the required advertising permits, navigate the approval process and access a consultation.

Hana Třeštíková, Councillor for Culture, Monument Care, Exhibitions and Tourism, told Cities Today that particular concerns which have driven the publication include “garish advertising” such as neon lights, shop signs, window foils and banners, which are being frequently used in the city centre and tourist hotspots, “without any respect for the historical and cultural value of our buildings or monuments”.

“We do not mind advertising, but it shouldn’t be annoying and tasteless,” she said.

Tourism

The guide covers the acceptable sizes, materials and positioning of shop advertisements and highlights both good and poor examples. For example, the city urges businesses not to cover shop windows with photographs or stickers.

Třeštíková said the goal is to help and motivate, rather than punish, businesses and the city plans to make 5 million CZK (US$ 210,000) in grants available from autumn to help companies improve advertising standards.

City officials are also trying to persuade the national government that laws on advertising should be changed, Třeštíková said.

“Prague is beautiful and it deserves to stay beautiful,” she concluded.

The guide follows an enforced break in tourism in Prague due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is part of a broader push towards more “quality tourism” in the city, which is well known for stag parties and pub crawls attracted by cheap alcohol. Recent changes include a ban on drinking in the street and loud behaviour after 10pm, new limitations on beer bikes and restrictions on street performers.

“We are currently working to [give] tourism in Prague a new, more sustainable face after the coronavirus break,” the Manual for Cultivated Prague website states.

Image: Valentin Armianu | Dreamstime.com