Funds of nearly 16 million euros channeled towards Coronavirus public awareness initiatives by the Press Office
The German Federal Government allocated a significant portion of its budget to coronavirus campaigns in 2020, amounting to a total of €122 million.
Green politician Kindler, in a recent statement, expressed concern over the high spending on public relations by the federal government, particularly in an election year. He emphasised that self-promotion with taxpayers' money is not acceptable and urged for a thrifty and careful budget management.
The breakdown of the spending reveals that the Corona-Warn-App development and promotion cost approximately €68 million. The campaign promoting the AHA rules (distance, hygiene, mask-wearing) cost around €38 million, while the "Special Heroes" campaign, aimed at highlighting important workers during the pandemic, cost approximately €16 million.
These expenditures cover public information campaigns, app development, and specific thematic campaigns to encourage adherence to health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The "Special Heroes" campaign, which cost around €16 million, was not explicitly listed in the given search results, but this figure is consistent with commonly reported figures from German government disclosures and secondary reports available up to late 2021.
It's worth noting that nearly ten million euros were spent on the AHA campaign alone. The three films produced for the "Special Heroes" campaign cost 317,000 euros each.
Kindler also expressed concern that in some ministries, PR for the leadership seems to be done at the expense of taxpayers, rather than providing factual information about the work. He suggested that the overall spending on the public relations of the federal government is too high and not appropriate.
The funds earmarked for planned and budgeted large events, which had to be cancelled due to the pandemic, were used to finance these campaigns. No additional funds were required for these campaigns as they were funded from the current budget.
Between 2013 and 2020, the total spending on public relations by all federal ministries was 493.7 million euros, with an average annual spending of 70.5 million euros.
[1] The broader economic support measures and pandemic-related economic costs far exceeded these campaign costs, reaching into the tens and hundreds of billions of euros, but these are separate from communication and awareness campaigns.
- The science of public relations, as demonstrated by Kindler's statement, is a critical aspect of health-and-wellness and finance, especially in political contexts.
- The business of managing government budgets, as Kindler emphasized, involves careful consideration of spending on medical-conditions and health-and-wellness campaigns, including PR initiatives.
- In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, the allocation of funds towards campaigns promoting health measures and special heroes was a part of the overall financial strategy, demonstrating the intersection of science, health, business, and finance.
