Looking sharp and ever-so-slightly smug, a young man working for the Croatian Telecom, a subsidiary of the German Telecom, is trying to persuade me to take part in the filming of an ad later this month. It would be a two-day engagement, he explains. Of course, the main actor in the ad will be Motovun, which is why I am talking to him, anyhow. I am trying to find out about the ad itself, but he is offering me next to nothing. Perhaps this is how much he knows about it, too. “Come on,” he keeps repeating with growing gusto, “you can earn so much by simply standing around!” Having failed to learn anything of interest from him, I send him off in the end. When I calculate the big reward he is offering, it adds up to a bit more than a hundred pounds sterling, the currency I understand best. But I am sure the young man’s argument will be more than compelling for almost everyone else he talks to around our town. Motovun is the main actor, but extras will come dirt cheap.

Addendum (June 28, 2007)

As it turns out, the Croatian Telecom is one of the topmost sponsors of soccer in the whole country, and it is sponsoring the ad in that lofty capacity. The filming started yesterday and will end today. The ad itself will last around a minute, or at most two. For the occasion, the main Motovun square has been turned into a soccer stadium, where two sides, one orange and another green, are battling it out to the bitter end, involving a roasted lamb. Judging from the colorful characters in the cheering crowd, such as the priest and the chimneysweep, the whole thing will be rather cute. The ad will hark back to times long gone, albeit replete with modern props, such as mobile phones and agricultural cultivators. Not surprisingly, the Croatian Telecom’s logos and colors will be displayed prominently throughout. At any rate, there are cheering extras galore in the square. Indeed, the young man’s argument from a few days ago was more than compelling in these parts. All it takes is about a hundred pounds a person.