Lack of originality, slogan similarity and the Greek elections

The snap Greek elections, which have been called for 20 September, did not seem to have taken anyone by surprise, with exception of the "creative" branches of... the two larger political parties in Greece. How so? It appears that in a rush to make their mark and put their slogans in everyone's mouth the incumbent SYRIZA party and the main opposition party NEA DIMOKRATIA (or New Democracy) managed to get themselves caught up in a mark - slogan row over Greek word "ΜΠΡΟΣΤΑ" (BROSTA), which means forward.

New Democracy leader and his slogan

It seems that New Democracy first occupied the spot by using the mark - slogan "Η ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΜΠΡΟΣΤΑ" (I ELLADA BROSTA), i.e., "Greece forward". Accordingly, when a few days later, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras spoke in a party event, with the words "ΜΟΝΟ ΜΠΡΟΣΤΑ" (MONO BROSTA), i.e., "Only forward", appearing on his back, New Democracy complained over copying of its campaign.

This GreeKat would sympathize more with the opposition campaign team, if he thought there is any originality in using "forward" in political campaigns. In the rather frustrated status he has found himself into, he also thinks that if any of the two slogans was ever filed as a trade mark, it should be rejected not so much as lacking distinctiveness, but primarily as being misleading... just a(n angry) thought.  

... and SYRIZA leader with his version

To be fair, it is not the first time SYRIZA had a mix up with campaign slogans. A short 8 months ago, on January 2015, during the previous election campaign, it had initiated the campaign with "ΤΟ ΜΕΛΛΟΝ ΞΕΚΙΝΗΣΕ" (The future has started), which was quickly replaced by "Η ΕΛΠΙΔΑ ΕΡΧΕΤΑΙ" (Hope is coming). The reason was that the party's initial choice had already been used by Socialists PASOK in their 2000 election campaign.

The January 'comparative' pic as appearing in iefimerida.com

This GreeKat would also have preferred if IP truly attracted the spotlight in Greek elections, as he feels it is a key throttle for innovation and growth, which in turn is paramount to addressing the Greek crisis. Alas, he fears he stands for another disappointment. At least, there is a bit of fun with political parties logos and slogans.