dm CEO Christoph Werner addresses advertising policies and German economic decline

Christoph Werner, CEO of the drugstore chain dm, has addressed recent controversies regarding the company's advertising policies and expressed concerns about the German economy.

Regarding political activism, Werner defended the importance of a broad spectrum of opinions in an open society. He clarified that dm did not simply follow a campaign by the activist group Campact, which had urged companies to exclude certain YouTube channels labeled as “hate channels.” Instead, Werner stated that dm conducted its own internal reviews of the provided examples. While he noted that some content was deemed “abysmal,” he specified that outlets such as Tichys Einblick, Nius, Apollo News, and Weltwoche did not meet the criteria for being blocked by the company.

On the economic front, Werner criticized the current state of the German business model, suggesting that the pillars of security via the United States, cheap energy from Russia, and the export engine driven by China are no longer functional. He warned that Germany is losing competitiveness due to declining net investments and a failure to keep pace with global changes, specifically citing the decline of the automotive industry as a consequence of past strategic decisions.