As an international marketing student, I brazenly thought that despite some localised differences, advertising in the western European market would be generally homogenous, particularly for a country with such relatively similar cultural traits and economic makeup as Germany.  Little did I know.

Some of the most basic things surprise here, despite their industrious, stoic nature, the Germans are casually (and to an outsider; hilariously) unihibited, from loudly berating a fellow teenager for not giving up their tram seat to an old lady to topless presenters on Saturday morning television the underlying reservedness that is usually assumed in Britain is quite certainly lacking, if not missing altogether in the Bundesrepublik.

Despite this the Germans seem to be able to exercise a level of self control which to a Brit is remarkable and slightly shaming.  Germany has a little in the way of problems relating to smoking or alcohol, despite the fact that there is little restriction on the sale of alcohol (it can be bought 24/7 in Germany; beer and wine from the age of 16 and spirits from 18), it is considerably cheaper than in the UK and is advertised universally (Beer adverts can often feature children too).  The greatest surprise to me was the revelation that alcohol was also sold in none other than... PETROL STATIONS, coupled with the (to a Brit) unnerving statistic that some autobahn service stations make more money selling alcohol than any other product (particularly on Sunday, when supermarkets are closed).

Greater than this shock though, was that discovery that Germany is the only country in Europe which still permits unrestricted tobacco advertising.  From the sponsorship of television programms through to billboard adverts located near schools (!) tobacco companies enjoy every right to advertise an any other commercial enterprise.  Indeed many supermarkets place alcohol miniatures and cigarette packets at the checkouts where in Britain you would expect to find chewing gum and sweets.  (Lidl goes so far as to place what is essentially bargain bins full of cigarettes at the checkouts).

The language of advertising in Germany can also be somewhat more direct than in English.  Due to the fact that German lacks the grammatical flexability of English, and thanks to their penchant for sticking lots of words together to form long, new, complex single words in place of a phrase it lacks the ability for word play and punchlines to a certain extent and thus German humour often relies on humourous ideas rather than clever linguistic play.  The consequences of this on advertising is very direct, unsubtle slogans, such as "It's cool to be stingy" (Saturn; major electronics and media retailer) and "Buy it or f*** off" (German record label) are pretty common, along with associated messages which in the Uk would be deemed 'morally questionable', such as the use of children in beer commercials, and the placement of an advert by cigarette brand Lucky Strike across from a school - the advert itself depicted a packet of Lucky Strikes turned upside down so that the the health warning box resembled an iPod screen and the circular Lucky Strike logo resembled the touchwheel.  Needless to say the intrusive slogan across the top of the billboard stated simply "iSmoke".  It was coupled with another advert further down the street of multiple boxes of the cigarettes laid out in the shape of a bottle beneath the slogan "Absolut Luckys".  Creative, I must admit, but as a Brit (and one who thought he was quite liberal)... somewhat unsettling.

The staggeringly common presence of English in advertising is the final surprise i have experienced.  When you visit Germany you need not worry about damaging national pride - as they are pretty much devoid of it.  As it was explained to me; anybody who expresses pride in their country is branded a Nazi and discredited.  Allegience is to their state or city.  (Or as another colleague put it; the only time Germans unite is to hate Bavaria - the largest, southernmost and most independant of the federal states).