The Croatian media regulator, the Council for Electronic Media (VEM), has issued a warning to Croatian Radiotelevison (HRT) over a controversial prize game in which participants were exposed to harsh conditions.
The game “Sto na kvadrat” was part of the project “100 voices in 100 hours for 100 years,” organized by Croatian Radio to mark its centenary. The final stage involved 22 contestants who, on January 3, stood for hours in freezing temperatures in Bogovićeva Street in Zagreb, keeping their hands pressed against a plastic dome to compete for the prize, as reported by N1.
“The rules were clear—contestants had to keep their arm straight, without bending at the elbow, and every two hours they had a 10-minute break,” HRT stated on its website. The event was also covered in a live radio broadcast.
After a full 14 hours of endurance—amid disqualifications and withdrawals—Andrijana Pocrnić won the competition, taking home the €10,000 prize.
During the event, Croatian Radio’s editor-in-chief Eliana Čandrlić Glibota commented: “People are persistently keeping their hands on this cold winter sphere. We are really rooting for all of them because it’s not easy. It’s now a question of motivation—why someone chooses to stay until the end. It’s very cold; it’s not easy even to walk in these conditions, let alone stand still.”
The contest sparked widespread public criticism, including comparisons to the film They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? directed by Sydney Pollack, which portrays grueling and humiliating dance marathons during the Great Depression.
VEM received a complaint at the end of January regarding the program aired as part of HRT’s anniversary celebrations, alleging that “socially vulnerable participants were exposed to degrading, unethical, and potentially dangerous conditions.”
After reviewing HRT’s response, VEM unanimously concluded that HRT had violated provisions of the Electronic Media Act and the HRT Act, issuing a formal warning.
Specifically, VEM found a breach of the provision stating that audiovisual media services, radio programs, and electronic publications must not include content that “violates human dignity.” It also found a violation of the HRT Act, which obliges the public broadcaster to respect “the privacy, dignity, reputation, and honor of individuals, as well as the fundamental rights and freedoms of others, especially children, youth, the elderly, and vulnerable persons.”