Prague’s public transport operator has found itself in hot water with human rights groups after rolling out special vehicles to mark the 90th anniversary of the city’s first trolleybuses. The campaign features eye-catching purple-and-white buses and a tram carrying the slogan “I identify as a trolleybus!”
The stickers appeared in mid-May as part of DPP’s promotional visuals shared on social media. Two buses and one tram now operate with the eye-catching design and provocative wording. While the company presents the effort as a light-hearted celebration of the shift toward emission-free electric trolleybus services, critics argue the phrasing crosses a line.
Human rights organizations that support transgender and non-binary people have condemned the slogan.
“But attacks are not only directed against trans and non-binary people. It is a broader effort to discredit the entire younger generation, who are concerned with their identity and refuse to be pushed into the pre-prepared boxes set out for them by their parents or society,“ stated the Prague Pride association, according to Czech news outlet Idnes.cz.
DPP defends the campaign as harmless personification
DPP spokesperson Daniel Šabík rejected suggestions that the slogan targets any group of people. He described it as a deliberate advertising exaggeration meant to give human traits to vehicles.
“Part of the visual ‘bus in the design of the trolleybus’ and the related slogan is the personification or anthropomorphization of means of transport, which receive human characteristics in a certain form of advertising exaggeration,” Šabík told Qult magazine. “It is a visual and sloganic abbreviation in the highly positive spirit of the transformation of the diesel bus service used so far into a modern, locally emission-free trolleybus service. This is in no way a comment on the personal identity of any group of people.”
Prague Pride association pushes back
The Prague Pride association disagreed sharply. In a statement, the group said the slogan spreads the misconception that individuals identify as objects and contributes to efforts aimed at discrediting human rights discussions more broadly.
“But attacks are not only directed against trans and non-binary people,” the association stated. “It is a broader effort to discredit the entire younger generation, who are concerned with their identity and refuse to be pushed into the pre-prepared boxes set out for them by their parents or society.”
The controversy has also reached Prague’s political leadership. Zdeněk Hřib, chairman of the Pirates party and former deputy mayor responsible for transport, called the marketing choice inappropriate.
“I consider this marketing slogan inappropriate and I will draw this to the attention of the DPP marketing department,” Hřib said.
Current deputy mayor for transport Jaromír Beránek, a fellow Pirate, has expressed agreement with Hřib’s assessment. The Prague municipality is expected to raise the issue directly with DPP’s marketing team.
