You might know him as that cool-looking, tattooed Michelin-star chef, turned consultant and a pilot (yes, he’s smart, he cooks, he flies too, so stop swooning, ladies), but Mario Mandarić is also the proud owner of a name that caused a small cultural earthquake. In the Kult Plave Kamenice case, he made a bold and principled move that challenged industry habits and sparked a wider conversation on fairness, integrity and responsible business. After discovering the name had never been protected, he trademarked Kult Plave Kamenice with himself the legal owner and then turned the entire saga into live theatre — opening an Advent pop-up under the brand and serving dishes titled “Journalistic Racket”, “Marketing Services” and even a €12 “Positive Article” beef goulash that came with a side of satire. Suddenly everyone had an opinion (which was kind of the point).
In this one-on-one, our very own Dunja Ivana Ballon (DK Festival & Program Director) sits down with Mario Mandarić to unpack the moment of decision: what pushed it, what followed and why that move matters far beyond one media story. He’ll tell us more about the case that exposed a blind spot in how brands are built today — launched publicly, scaled socially and monetized culturally, often without any defensive strategy in place. This can be a reminder to everyone that sometimes the boldest form of brand leadership is standing your ground and that your brand should also be your trademark. Be more like Mario.