Cool Deutschland

First came “cool Britannia,” Tony Blair’s late-’90s attempt to sex up the U.K.’s image. Now Germany is rebranding itself for the British audience. A study by the London branch of the Goethe Institute, which promotes Germany abroad, exposed the U.K.’s lack of interest in the country’s people, language and culture. So the Institute launched a publicity campaign, targeted at British students, teachers and cultural bodies, which will fill mailboxes with postcards featuring übermodel Claudia Schiffer and the slogan learn German, and look good.

There’s a serious side to this, says the Institute’s Klaus Krischok: “There are streets in Germany where Nazis used to walk. These streets have changed a lot, so why not change your perception?” Advertisers — German ones, anyway — are applauding. “The British do not believe we can mock ourselves, so we have to show that we can,” says Ralph Blome, manager of Innovista, a Hanover ad agency. His own suggestion: “A picture of a plate of Sauerkraut and the slogan ‘We are Krauts — we are having a good time!'” You can already hear the plane tickets being booked.