In 1999 the state government of Baden-Württemberg began an image campaign with the agency Scholz & Friends. Its closing line became a catchphrase: Wir können alles. Außer Hochdeutsch. We can do everything, except standard German. The agency’s case study names the problem that the campaign had to solve. Baden-Württemberg galt auch als das Land der leistungsorientierten Streber. Baden-Württemberg was also seen as the land of achievement-driven swots. So the campaign showed people die Spitzenleistungen vollbracht haben und dabei sympathisch und menschlich geblieben sind, who had achieved top performance and had stayed likable and human. The self-irony, the agency wrote, beweist Größe und macht sympathisch. It shows greatness and makes people likable.