GRINNING GHOULS:

Teaching Berlin How to Smile (Siobhán Dowling , 1/11/06, Der Spiegel)

Germany's reputation is hardly that of a world leader -- neither in friendliness nor in customer service. Indeed, Germans themselves often refer to the country as a "service desert." But with the World Cup offering Germany a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn on the charm for the world, the German tourism industry is desperate not to pass it up. Indeed, with the launching of several "friendliness initiatives," the World Cup has already become a powerful excuse to get Germans, and especially the dour-faced Berliners, smiling early and often.

The charm offensive started early, with Germany's tournament organizing committee choosing "A Time to Make New Friends" as the official slogan for the soccer championship -- to run from June 9 to July 9. "We won't get this opportunity again for another 50 years so it's worth at least smiling for a few weeks," German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer, president of the organizing committee, told journalists last month at the launch of a nationwide campaign to encourage friendliness.

Are we really supposed to feel better when all the soccer fans smile as they sieg hiel?

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 12, 2006 10:01 AM