Hands off Charles Bridge

After Tom Cruise shot Mission: Impossible in Prague in 1995, his producer friends vowed never to return to the city. The main complaint was that Prague broke its word and raised the price of Liechtenstein Palace from Kč 80,000 per day to Kč 500,000. President Václav Havel said the city should have given Cruise the site for free because of all the publicity the film would create. Yesterday, Prague pulled out of an agreement to close Charles Bridge for a Louis Vuitton event. The difference this time is that Charles Bridge is a true tourist attraction, and turning visitors away so that the rich and famous can throw a party is bad PR. No contract for closing the bridge should have been signed. The city will get another black eye for reneging on a deal, but the true culprit this time is Louis Vuitton's PR agency. It wanted to impress its client but instead caused everyone a big embarrassment. [Czech Republic public relations]