POLAND: Coffin maker scoffs at death by releasing pin-up calendar

Record ID: 517452

  • Title: POLAND: Coffin maker scoffs at death by releasing pin-up calendar
  • Date: 31st October 2012
  • Summary: WAGROWIEC, POLAND (OCTOBER 26, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SHOWROOM WITH COFFINS VARIOUS OF POSTER ADVERTISING LINDNER'S 2010 CALENDAR WITH SCANTILY CLAD LADY AND COFFIN VARIOUS OWNER OF COFFIN FACTORY, ZBIGNIEW LINDNER
  • Embargoed: 15th November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Poland
  • Country: Poland
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAEULAOXWIDSRB88W2U8RVDUGVJ
  • Story Text: A coffin maker in the small Polish town of Wagrowiec has just launched the 2013 edition of its now infamously promiscuous calendar, where the grim symbol of death, a coffin, is accompanied by semi-nude models.
    For four years Lindner Coffins has published scantily-clad young ladies modeling for the company's annual calendar, raising eyebrows in mostly Catholic Poland.
    Released just in time for Halloween, owner Zbigniew Lindner says the calendar is anything but ghoulish.
    "We wanted to prove one thing - that a coffin is not a religious symbol. A coffin, very bluntly speaking, is a container," coffin maker, Zbigniew Lindner, said.
    Lindner says he hasn't set out to offend anyone and defends himself against critics.
    "A coffin is not a symbol, it is a product. We are advertising a product, a certain product of a certain industry. The matter went out of its original boundaries and that's good. Every calendar is a voice in a discussion, and I think it is a very important voice, because everybody takes the matter differently, everybody has their own thoughts. Someone said it's kitsch - why? That's nonsense," he said.
    Lindner Coffins is one of Poland's biggest coffin exporters and the calendar has helped boost sales, Lindner says.
    Model Ola Wanserska, who has posed in two editions of the calendar, says the first time she was nervous about the idea but now it is just like any other shoot.
    "This photo session was not really different from any other photo sessions I've done; especially since it is my second one for this calendar. The first time I was a little stressed because I didn't know what my reaction would be to the coffins and to seeing all of this, what sort of contact I will have with the coffins, and if I would have the courage to go ahead with it. So I didn't know what they would expect from me, would I be lying in a coffin or will they lock me inside, I had no idea," Wanserska said.
    Lindner says the proceeds of the calendar are reinvested into the small Wagrowiec community through initiatives such as the local cultural centre.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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