Long known for its rich history and elegant marble-lined metro, Moscow has suddenly discovered that it has a bad rap among foreigners — and is spending tens of millions of dollars to try and turn it around. "After all, Mickey Mouse is just a mouse with good publicity," said Veronika Khilchevskaya, a consultant working on the $27-million campaign to boost the Russian capital’s image.
It can be a delicacy or status symbol, a cure-all or even an aphrodisiac, but ecologists are warning that Russian caviar could disappear altogether as the Caspian Sea’s sturgeon population reaches dangerously low levels. The WWF conservation group has for the past few months waged a campaign to persuade Russians to give up their caviar habit for six years.
Irina, a young consultant in a Western company, loves boasting to colleagues about her trip to Argentina and showing off her tan and holiday snaps. The only thing is: she’s never been there. And this doesn’t matter, according to the man behind this novel idea for arousing envy — fake trips with real side effects.