Crust wars

Some time ago I wrote about one of the most popular snacks in Russia – sukhariki (rusks). Today there are two major players on the market (should I say rusk giants?) who are constantly warring with each other. One brand is ‘3 Korochki’ (3 Crusts) and the other one is ‘Kiriyeshki’ produced by Sibirskiy Bereg (Novosibirsk). Although an archetypal Siberian is a slow and non-aggressive person, Sibirskiy Bereg launched an aggressive advertising campaign. The anti ‘3 Crusts’ ad pictured three banana skins, three orange skins and three mouldy bread crusts with the slogan: “Real sukhariki are not called crusts”. In Russia comparative advertising is illegal. It didn’t take a lot of time to calculate that Sibirskiy Bereg was behind this attack and 3 Crusts didn’t hesitate to sue it. Two years later after all appeals and counter-appeals the court pronounced the judgment – Sibirskiy Bereg should place the exact number of billboards it used for slandering its competitor with the words of apology.