Kudzu of capitalism slinks to the Eastern Block in Czech Dream-Reality TV Meets Documentary

Two Czech students give reality shows a whole new incarnation for their final project in film school with an idea even Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me fame covets. They fashion and promote a capitalist dream- a shop till you drop big box store (or hypermarket as the Czech lingo goes) which in reality is but a 100 foot façade supported by scaffolding in the back.

Fashion make-overs transform and groom the filmmakers into store managers. A top notch and expensive ad team steps up to the plate with logos, graphics and slogans. Customers are invited to dream up store names. Amore, Harmony and Cornucopia are contenders. A soggy “We are the world” anthem groans throughout the background. Focus groups assess the pitches. One market analysis even equips a potential customer with a head camera that measures what part of the ads she focuses on just to make sure all manner of manipulation has been explored.

Do they fall for it? The proverbial first in line is there 3 hours before opening, but the numbers soon swell to 2000 by the time opening ceremonies start. The herds assemble for the lure of unbelievable savings-they seem to all want the digital camera-and free gifts. As the ribbon is cut, the gates open, and the blood lust of bargain shopping takes over. Those first to confront the hoax laugh, cuss or just feel like idiots. If it is too good to be true, it probably isn’t.

But do the hungry bargain hunters now looking like mindless sheep grazing in the adjacent meadow punch anyone out? Remarkably no. They focus on the realization that the experience is not that far from the empty promises of a manipulative government. As one points out, “Our politicians make fools out of 10 million.”