“Czech invention” of ads on banknotes unlawful, says Czech National Bank

The Czech National Bank has just issued a statement saying its banknotes may not be used for advertising purposes. That may seem obvious, so why spell it out? Well, because one Czech company is currently offering on its website “a unique way of promoting your company: ads on banknotes”. It’s a Czech invention, say Vedici, who are based in Pelhřimov, in the centre of the country.

Czech National Bank, photo: Štěpánka Budková

What they are actually talking about is putting stickers on cash, not advertisements that would be embedded in some way. One of Vedici’s owners Martin Vilímek says they had the idea when it came time to pay their employees on the completion of a project six months ago.

“We wanted to make their first salary something they would never forget. We thought, what about if we put the logo of our project on the banknote, and give them their first salary in cash. We weren’t sure if we weren’t breaking any law, so we wrote a letter and sent it the Czech National Bank, because we never wanted to break any law or anything like that.”

As I say, Vedici is now offering to place ads on money for other firms. Its website offers legal justification in the form of a letter from the Czech National Bank.

For its part, the bank says Mr Vilímek’s company are now acting under false pretences – after saying the stickers would be removed immediately and the idea was a one-off. Spokesman Marek Petruš.

“He was arguing that after that the sticker would be removed. Which would mean that according to the letter from the CNB, no law would be broken in that case. This letter from the CNB was misused by the company. The question to which the CNB was replying was completely different – it was not a question of whether or not it is possible to use Czech banknotes for advertisements. The CNB has a strong and clear position, which is that it is not possible to use Czech banknotes for advertisements.”

Vedici say several companies have expressed interest in the idea of placing their logos on cash. They say if the central bank tries to stop them, they will seek advice from their lawyers.

In any case, given that we are surrounded by so many ads in the modern world, is it really such an outlandish idea? Could it be something we see in the future? The CNB’s Marek Petruš:

“It’s simply not possible because one element of this situation is that you have regulation, detailed criteria for how a banknote should look and what a valid banknote is. It’s just not possible to alter, to modify, to damage a banknote, because if they are damaged they would then fall out of circulation. It’s just not possible to alter this, basically, legal tender.”