Cowan's Nudity Is Catching
Updated : May 1, 2009
Berliners on the city's main shopping drag, the "Ku'damm", were greeted Thursday with an unusual sight: a giant mocked-up image of Chancellor Angela Merkel in a matching purple bra and knicker set.
The 100-metre-square (1,000-square-foot) image of the half-naked world leader is part of a nationwide advertising campaign for an underwear company aiming to cash in on the success of a "cash-for-clunkers" scheme for old cars.
Punters trading in their old underwear will get a five-euro (seven-dollar) discount on a new pair, the advert promises, under the slogan: "The country needs new undies."
The electronic advert -- on a busy road junction in the heart of former West Berlin -- was certainly causing a stir on the streets, with scores of people taking snapshots of the billboard with cameras or mobile phones.
"I think it's great. Brilliant. It's a positive signal for the economic situation in Germany," said a 54-year-old who gave his name of Meier adding he would "definitely" trade in his old pants at the first opportunity.
A 37-year-old called Bebe said: "I think it's fantastic that you can look at something funny when you're waiting for the bus."
Merkel herself was tight-lipped on the subject. "The chancellor's office does not want to comment on the campaign," a spokesman told AFP.
VeryHappyPig reckons that image is a lot easier on the eye than the Brian Cowen equivalent, which featured in a recent VHP pole, but scarily enough not as attractive as the painting of Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi in the buff!