Switzerland Tourism
The legendary winter forecast on the anthill
Twice a year, the weather forecasters from Muotathal make weather forecasts for the next six months based on various observations of nature.
One of them, Martin Horat, became famous nationwide thanks to this campaign for Switzerland Tourism.
In the international campaign, Horat analyses the thighs of ants — and comes to the conclusion that there will be a lot of snow.
Horat’s forecast actually came true, winter came early and by mid-December there was the best powder snow in the ski resorts.
So the pre-planned follow-up spot with Martin Horat as snow shoveller and snow eater was used.
This film also made the news and one or two bizarre stories:
For example, Horat said in the advert that there would be a good winter ‘like 1968’. This part was not in the script, but a spontaneous statement made by Horat during filming.
However, the British Advertising Standards Authority did not want to broadcast the advert precisely because of this statement — it was an unproven claim.
With the help of meteorologists, we were able to prove to the British authorities that exceptionally high amounts of snow were indeed recorded in the Alps in January 68.
Horat’s spontaneous statement was based on his extensive knowledge of weather history and so the advert was also allowed to be broadcast in England.
A few months later — it was already towards the end of winter and the campaign had already been a media topic many times — there was a real stir:
After an animal rights activist lodged a complaint, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) had the advert — which had not been shown for months — stopped. The film was said to encourage young people to sit on anthills.
Switzerland Tourism then removed the film from YouTube.
This in turn led to a shitstorm in the comment section against the FOEN, which subsequently reversed its decision. People would not ‘imitate the advert and sit on anthills’.
However, the campaign, Martin Horat and his predictions were the talk of the town for months.
SRF later made a documentary film ‘Windswept and weatherproof — how Martin Horat became famous’, which can now be seen on YouTube.