Dutch power company warns against beautiful Ukrainian women at Euro 12

Euro 12 is almost here and the Netherlands Energy Company is nervous. As Ukraine and Poland make their finalpreparations to host the tournament in June, the Dutch firm seems to think it is in danger of a lull in summer business as fans travel abroad to support the national team, so they've come up with an ad campaign to combat this. And the basis of this campaign is to convince Dutch women that their significant others will be seduced by Ukrainian ladies if they let them go to Euro 12. But if that doesn't work, free beer taps!

From the AP:

In the clip titled ''Keep Him Home,'' the Netherlands Energy Company offers a free beer tap to customers who sign up for its services. If Dutch men were able to tap their own beer, the ad implies, they would be more likely to watch the games at home instead of traveling to Ukraine.

An Internet search of ''Ukrainian woman'' shown in the clip yields dozens of photos of women in erotic outfits and poses.

[Ukrainian] Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Voloshin said Wednesday the ad was ''humiliating and discriminatory.''

Beyond the TV ad above, NEC commits further to its joke by also has a multi-page spoof website all about the threat of Ukrainian women that probably won't please the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, either.

The frontpage of the site reads:

Ukrainian women are well-known for being highly sought-after in the international marriage and dating industry. Many foreign men come to Ukraine in the hopes of finding the true love they couldn't find at home. At their service are scores of marriage agencies, travel agencies with dating tour packages, and a thriving sex industry. How did Ukraine achieve the dubious fame of an international supplier of accessible and marriageable women? Are Ukrainian women all they're cracked up to b! e? This site will try to take an objective, cold-blooded look at Ukrainian women.

And then it shows a collage of models and actresses (Hayden Panettiere in the top corner?), many of whom aren't even Ukrainian.

In addition to the questions of sexism, stereotypes and international relations, surely the co-hosts of the tournament are left to ask: What about all the beautiful Polish women, Netherlands Energy Company?