Archives for December 1st, 2004

Beate Uhse went from Luftwaffe pilot to successful pornographer.

Here’s a story that’s weird in many ways: Formula One racer Ralf Schumacher and European pornography giant Beate Uhse are teaming up to build eight (8) sex shops in Slovenia next year, an investment worth $2.6 million. (~470 million SIT)

I’ve been in Slovenia for three years now, and never once did I think: "You know, Slovenia could really use some more sex shops. A lot more."

So I’m very curious as to how/why they decided to do this. Keep in mind that Slovenia has a population of only two million (roughly the size of Hamburg) and that there already are plenty of sex shops here. Venera, the largest erotic chain in Slovenia, has 12 stores around the country. There are also others. [For my first encounter with Venera, see here.]

I’m sure that Ralf and Beate did some market research, and I can only assume that this research showed that Slovenes urgently want many more sex shops. But, still, it seems a bit like a wacky Mad Libs decision, doesn’t it?

Next year, <insert company name> together with <insert German sports celebrity> plan to build <insert number from 1 to 10> sex shops in <insert country> for a total value of <insert another number> million!

UPDATE: Ralf has slammed on the brakes. After being ridiculed by popular German comedian Stefan Raab — who dubbed him "Porno-Ralle" and jokingly referred to his wife as "Hard-Cora" — Schumacher has pulled out of his planned venture to Slovenia. He also threatened to slap Raab with a million-euro lawsuit for "damaging him and his wife Cora and their marriage." Apparently, this is a crime. The full story is available here. [In German]