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Europe
Belgium (attempts to) offset negative image
2008-02-05
Belgium plans to launch an international promotion campaign to improve the country's image abroad.
Belgium has an 'image'?
Well, yeah. But it's transparent.
Belgium is especially concerned with drawing more investments to our country. The campaign will focus on Belgium as a country with a good investment climate.
We'll start by showing how up is down and then move on to show how compulsion = liberty.
And how Belgians will prosecute anyone for human rights violations, no matter where they occurred (offer void in Congo).
The system of 'notional interest' will be explained: thanks to this system, companies that invest in Belgium enjoy low corporate tax.

The chamber of commerce in the United States reported last week that Belgium was a bad place for foreign investments. The aim of the new international campaign is to refute this image of Belgium. There will be advertisements in newspapers and on television: including on CNN and BBC World, and in the Financial Times of London.
Posted by:lotp

#29  I had no idea AutoBartender ever left the O Club. We can now proudly say that Rantburg is not life-ist, or perhaps organicist. Separately, I asked Mr. Wife, and he doesn't know whether Belgium has installed a new government yet, either.
Posted by: trailing wife   2008-02-05 23:24  

#28  Yeah, that's the plan. Hold any corporate investment in Belgium hostage because of some pol you don't like in the home office's country of origin. That'll get the investments pouring in.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2008-02-05 22:30  

#27  So did Belgium ever decide to get their government back or did they just say fuck it?
Not that I care, or that it matters...
Posted by: tu3031   2008-02-05 16:46  

#26  Gloria is Ethel (AKA Mrs Fred)
Posted by: Frank G   2008-02-05 16:44  

#25  #16 - Aha. Now I can see the difference between pink (Gloria) and salmon (Dr. Steve).
Posted by: Rambler   2008-02-05 16:39  

#24  thanks guys for the laughs.......one of the funniest threads in a while.....
Posted by: Broadhead6   2008-02-05 16:33  

#23  Who's Gloria?
Posted by: tu3031   2008-02-05 16:28  

#22  appreciate that, Fred
Posted by: Frank G   2008-02-05 15:19  

#21  Beyond the rainbow, can we assume that Belgium is a notion rather than a nation ? And that the notion of a nation based on a split between 2 totally unrelated factions will not endure ?
Posted by: wxjames   2008-02-05 15:16  

#20  I'm saving his place.
Posted by: Fred   2008-02-05 15:12  

#19  damn. that .com note makes me feel very sad
Posted by: Frank G   2008-02-05 15:03  

#18  Fred, can you put that in a "Meet the Mods" link to the right?
Posted by: ed   2008-02-05 14:54  

#17  As for American colour sensibilities, as Fred shows, they map as wildly as our favourite cuisines.
Posted by: trailing wife   2008-02-05 14:52  

#16  In no particular order...

Steve White
John Frum
lotp
Gloria
Fred
Steve
.com, if he comes back
Scooter McGruder
Autobartender
Dave D.
Pappy
Seafarious


Simplisme, non?
Posted by: Fred   2008-02-05 14:45  

#15  Scooter MacGrooder (sp?) is pepto-bismol pink. John Frum is peach, not beige. Dave D., who is on hiatus, kindly consented to be identified as goldenrod as a sop to my tender sensibilities, although he insisted the colo(u)r he'd chosen was really baby-poop brown. As for dear Dr. Steve's need to have his colour be called salmon, the less said about that, the better. ;-)

DoDo, you are confusing sport, or perhaps science, with Art.

swksvolFF, the tulip belongs to Holland. But put a lace cap on his head, and you've got my vote.
As for American colour sensibilities,
Posted by: trailing wife   2008-02-05 14:43  

#14  Maybe they could hire eurostar who did the 'Visit England' campaign.

Hows about: Saifu Deen al Muwahhied squating down, covering his buttocks with his left hand, taking a crap into a chocolate confectionary mold with a tulip gripped in his mouth and diamond earrings a'sparkling. Caption: If you don't think Belgium is super chic neat, we will make you think otherwise.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2008-02-05 11:17  

#13  Salmon is not a color. There are red salmon, silver salmon and pink salmon, but no salmon salmon.
Posted by: DoDo   2008-02-05 10:58  

#12  Grey is OK.

Salmon is a fish, not a colour.

I'm sorry, but it's just not allowed. I think it's in the constitution.
Posted by: Birght Pebbles   2008-02-05 09:44  

#11  Real men use only these colours red, blue, green, black & white.

That's the nice thing about America - we can use any damn color - I mean 'colour' - we want. I use gray - I mean, 'grey'. You might see it sometime.

Then again, you might not want to.
Posted by: Pappy   2008-02-05 09:08  

#10  Have they gotten around to putting together an actual government, as opposed to the interim cabinet which was running things the last time I checked?
Posted by: Mitch H.   2008-02-05 09:05  

#9  Probably good at giving change from a nine dollar bill in threes.
Posted by: Jomosing Bluetooth8431   2008-02-05 08:41  

#8  not that there's anything wrong with that
Posted by: Frank G   2008-02-05 08:37  

#7  Now, now, now, remember, here, nobody judges Mr. White for his "salmon" thing. It's the way it is, and no one has the right to judge him for that, it's not his fault, he didn't choose it. And it's "salmon", of course, we all believe that.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2008-02-05 08:16  

#6  Have you all gone gay?

Real men use only these colours red, blue, green, black & white.

Salmon! Beige! Such a sorry day for rantburg.
Posted by: Birght Pebbles   2008-02-05 07:44  

#5  Oooo. Who has that beige? At first I thought the pink mod had faded; but I see his comments later. Is it for the luscious Belgian milk chocolat?

Beige is noted commenter/poster John Frum IIRC, though a post-it somewhere about the Rainbow Coalition of mods would be useful. And, remember, we all AGREE here it's not pink, it's "salmon", because, yes, it's "salmon", why, of course! The important thing is, the good doctor believes that, and we all AGREE with him. Because it's "salmon", not pink. Really.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2008-02-05 07:28  

#4  mmmm.... waffles

/homer
Posted by: Frank G   2008-02-05 07:15  

#3  Oooo. Who has that beige? At first I thought the pink mod had faded; but I see his comments later. Is it for the luscious Belgian milk chocolat?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2008-02-05 07:14  

#2  I think they're trying to say that the value received by businesses from government programs offsets the cost of doing business there.
Posted by: lotp   2008-02-05 06:49  

#1  The system of 'notional interest' will be explained

I don't speak EUish. Is this what we call 'bribery'?
Posted by: SteveS   2008-02-05 06:04  

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