Polska Rzeczpospolita Luksusowa. Reaktywacja PRL-u bez resentymentów

Abstract

The aim of the article is to show the activities in revitalizing products and brands originally operating in the Polish People’s Republic and now returning in the form of luxury consumer goods. Speaking of four such revivals in the form of brands: Junak, Unitra, Błonie and Relax and series of seats designed in the Polish People’s Republic by Roman Modzelewski and Czesław Knothe. Reactivation projects are accompanied by a non-ressentiment look at the period of socialism in Poland. The marketing strategies of the companies in question are based on a more or less visible mission to preserve the Polish tradition of industrial design. However resurgent products and brands are causing a lot of resentment comments, especially in the digital space, showing the fragmentation of Polish society into antagonists and supporters of the return of the Polish People’s Republic in the new version. Consequently, the consumer goods of PRL provenance become the accelerator of political disputes and the incentive to account for history by individuals who may not feel „beneficiaries” of systemic changes after 1989.