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Roadside Sheep = Illegal Media

by: caffeinegoddess, Apr 20 2006 - 8:53pm
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By caffeinegoddess on April 20, 2006 - 20:53

In the northern Netherlands, an online hotel site, hotels.nl, has been using sheep in blue jackets to advertise. Mayor Bert Kuiper of Skarstelan, claims that roadside advertising is against the law and will dole out a "hefty fine" of 500 euros (600 dollars) per sheep per day if the sheep don't lose their jackets by Monday.

The Hotel.nl director doesn't seem to care, as the farmers and his company have profited from the venture.

But the company concerned was undeterred. "We are not going to remove the adverts. We will simply pay the fine," Hotels.nl director Michiel Nagel said.

"It goes up to a maximum of 20,000 euros, and that's not so much," he added.

And he said his business was also gaining. 'We had a record turnover last weekend, because we had more clients, partly through the sheep,' Nagel said.

Related: Mooving Billboards

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The NY Times ran the story today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/24/world/europe/24sheep.html?_r=1&oref=sl...

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Seems like a lot of places are jumping on the story now.
Update from Reuters:

Hotels.nl Chief Executive Miechel Nagel said the company would respond by increasing the number of sheep it uses in Skarsterlan to 60 and changing the statement on their blankets to "Thank You, Mr. Mayor."

"Now it's a freedom of speech issue," said Nagel. He added the local economy also was getting a boost as farmers were being paid 15 euros to 20 euros ($18-$25) per sheep per month to wear the advertisements.

"Their value as lamb-kebabs is around 60 euros ($75)," Nagel said.

[snip]

"It's very creative and we're absolutely not cranky about this, but it has been our policy for years that we don't want advertisements along our roads," Kuiper was quoted saying by Dutch press agency ANP.

A receptionist for Skarsterlan's city offices said no one would be available to comment until Tuesday.

According to the ANP report, the mayor complained Hotels.nl was undermining the authority of local laws and he had started legal action against the company.

"What's next, cows and horses?" Kuiper said.

Nagel said Hotels.nl plans to distribute free horse blankets to 700 people in Skarsterlan bearing the company's logo if it loses the case. He estimated that 80 percent of the town would be willing to use the blankets and back the company, rather than the mayor.

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