BOV advertises investment plan using metaphor for tax evasion structures

A fun advert for Bank of Valletta’s monthly investment plan features Russian Matryoshka dolls – coincidentally a metaphor for dubious networks of companies

It seems that Malta’s largest bank and its marketing agency haven’t considered a well-known metaphorical meaning of Matryoshkas they are using to advertise financial services to consumers.

BOV’s latest advertising campaign features such stacking dolls originating from Russia, eagerly catching fish meant to symbolise clients’ monthly investments – awkwardly to the sound of some traditional Irish dance.

Matryoshka dolls are also used as an analogy for dubious company networks set up for money laundering, tax evasion and sanction dodging. This analogy has become known to a wider audience through the 2016 Panama Papers revelations.

The decision to use Russian dolls to advertise financial services might appear even funnier when one considers that BOV is running such advert in the country which sold Golden Passports to Russians and Belarusians.

Malta only suspended the scheme for Russian and Belarusian nationals following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Cover Image: Facebook Screenshot

Michael Kaden

Michael has worked in media production and journalism for two decades. The owner, editor and presenter of NEWZ is also media producer for local and international newsrooms, and has been creating and designing content for the world's leading broadcasters and entertainment companies.