A Dutch online reservations company is bringing new meaning to the concept of outdoor advertising. In a move that has raised more than a few eyebrows in the Netherlands, the company, Hotels.nl, has
draped a flock of sheep with royal blue, waterproof blankets that bear the company's logo. Hotels.nl spends 1 euro, or about $1.23 a day, per sheep and sponsors about 144 sheep in flocks throughout
the Netherlands. And it's working. Since the advertising strategy started, sales have increased 15 percent, and so have visits to the company's Web site, said Miechel Nagel, chief executive of
Hotels.nl. He said the company plans to increase the number of sheep sporting the company's logo and is searching for locations where there are frequent traffic jams. But at least one town where the
sheep have roamed is not happy with the strategy. On Saturday, the town of Skarsterlan began fining Hotels.nl 1,000 euros a day, claiming that advertising on livestock violates the town's ban on
advertising along the highways. "My first reaction was a smile; it is very creative," said Bert Kuiper, the town's mayor. "My second reaction is that we have to stop this. If we start with sheep, then
next it's the cows and horses." Hotels.nl said that it would pay the fines, but that it planned to fight the ban in court. "As a company in modern times, you have to take some risks," Mr. Nagel said.
"You cannot be everybody's friend. Let's say 25 percent are against this. But we can't have all the Dutch people as customers.
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