Groonk's Newsmine 2.0

Early this month, Hotels.nl, a Dutch online reservations company, began outfitting sheep in royal blue waterproof blankets with their corporate logos at a cost of €1, or $1.23, a day per sheep. About 144 sheep in flocks throughout the Netherlands are now sponsored by the company. But the idea of commercially branded sheep roaming along the bucolic meadows of the northern Netherlands has prompted a bit of a backlash. On Saturday, the town of Skarsterlan began fining Hotels.nl €1,000 a day for sheep that wear the branded blankets. Livestock advertising violates the town's ban on advertising along the highways. "My first reaction was a smile; it is very creative," said the town's mayor, Bert Kuiper. "My second reaction is that we have to stop this. If we start with sheep, then next it's the cows and horses."