Beer babes stunt gets out of hand, but an orange convoy of vehicles may wish it had some of the free publicity. While outgoing MPs clear their desks, Dutch holiday-makers are hit by flash flooding in France. And cocaine is making a comeback in the capital.

World Cup beer babes stunt gets out of hand
Everybody is talking about them, the two “beer babes”, who were arrested in their hotel in Johannesburg yesterday for “ambush marketing” during the Netherlands-Denmark match on Monday. The two women were part of a group of thirty women reports de Volkskrant, who were removed from the stadium for wearing an orange “Dutch dress” marketed by the small Dutch brewery Bavaria - even though there is no logo on the dress.

As US brewer Budweiser is the official sponsor of the World Cup, the arrests were made to protect FIFA’s commercial interests. Dutch caretaker Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen says the arrests are “out of proportion and senseless”. Bavaria, who paid 10,000 rand (over 1,000 euros) in bail for the women's release, agrees. The company says so far it has had no word from FIFA.

As a result of the arrests, the Dutch dress has now become world news. Bavaria couldn’t have hoped for more publicity. One expert values the stunt is worth a six-figure sum. Nevertheless, Bavaria has ended its campaign, as the mood could quickly turn if the women do end up in a cell for six months.

De Volkskrant explains that if the Netherlands wins its bid for the 2018 World Cup, FIFA’s strict marketing rules will apply here too. Well, in that case, they had better start emptying the prisons, because almost every Dutch company will cash in on the World Cup by giving away free orange goodies with their products.

Iron Rita clears her desk
While the Christian Democrats are dithering whether or not to join the coalition talks after their poor showing in last week’s poll, outgoing MPs said their farewells in parliament on Wednesday. Trouw prints a photo of Proud of the Netherlands leader Rita Verdonk, once known as “Iron Rita”, packing her bag in an otherwise empty office in the attic of the parliamentary building in The Hague. At one time, she was good for 27 seats in the opinion polls. She even hoped to become the first female prime minister of the Netherlands. In last week’s election Proud of the Netherlands lost the only seat it had.

Rumours that she may be asked to become a minister for Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party were quickly rejected by the anti-Islam party leader. It seems unlikely that the woman who was thrown out of the liberal VVD by Mark Rutte after a failed leadership challenge would serve under him as prime minister. That leaves Ms Verdonk looking for another job. To add insult to injury, the local branch of the Proud of the Netherlands party in her home town announced its decision to cut itself off from the national party yesterday. “It feels like a knife in my back,” says the former MP.

The paper also points out that exodus of MPs means there is less experience in parliament. The longest-sitting MP and former leader of the orthodox Christian SGP, Bas van der Vlies received long applause and a royal honour for 29 years of service in parliament during the outgoing parliament’s last session.

Dutch holiday-makers hit by floods in France
Three of the papers carry photos of yesterday’s flooding in Provence in southern France. They report that at least 19 people were killed in the flash floods caused by heavy rainfall. More than 200 Dutch holiday-makers saw their tent, car or caravan washed away in torrents of water while they were evacuated, some by helicopter.

Trouw prints a photograph of people crammed onto a roof terrace, below them the floodwaters are the same terracotta colour as the tiles on roofs. AD shows a picture of caravans and a boat piled up in a campsite, as if they were tossed carelessly aside by a huge hand. The photo in De Telegraaf shows a woman holding back the tears as she sees the devastation in the mountain town of Les Arcs sur Argens.

The same paper reports that many of the Dutch holidaymakers - some only dressed in their underwear - were given food, clothes and shelter in a sports hall in Fréjus.

Dutch consul, Peter van Santen, is reportedly angry with the motoring organisation ANWB, which helps victims of emergencies on holiday. He tells the paper, “I could have organised two buses straight away and then the people would be on their way home.” But the ANWB wanted to use its own buses which had to travel for 15 hours first.

A spokesperson for the ANWB declares, “Mr Van Santen is obviously not familiar with emergency help.” He explains that the local authorities have to provide help first. Then the emergency organisation assesses each case one by one. All this takes at least three days. Yes, it does sound a bit slow.

Cocaine comeback down to mobile phones
According to nrc.next, cocaine is making a comeback in the Netherlands. Researcher Tom Nabben tells us why in his thesis High Amsterdam. Well, it all has little to do with government policies and everything to do with trends and image. GHB has lost its popularity, simply because people who go out for a night of fun don’t want to end up in a coma anymore. One club even faked its house transvestite’s death to warn users about its effects. When well-wishers came to the wake they found “her” alive and well, lying in a coffin.

The study is based on data from Amsterdam’s drug monitor Antenne, which has collected information on drug use in the capital since 1994. Drug use increased a lot during the ten years after 1988. The popularity of ecstasy coincided with the arrival of house music and was a “match made in heaven” . With “E”s, ravers could keep going all night. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, people felt positive, making ecstasy a perfect name too. But by the end of the 1990s, the drug-induced Tuesday dip was getting worse and people didn’t want to look a wreck anymore.

Along with the arrival of urban parties and their macho culture, popular with the non-native Dutch people, cocaine has become the preferred drug. Even the mobile phone has influenced the choice of drugs, because people often take it on an impulse and how better to get hold of your kicks than with a phone call.

According to Mr Nabben, the success of the zero-tolerance policy claimed by police is a fallacy. Club-goers don’t take any notice of it whatsoever, they just take their drugs before they go out.

Beer babes not the only World Cup publicity stunt
They may not have had as much press as the beer babes, but the caravan of orange vehicles headed by a double-decker bus drove 636 kilometres from Pretoria to Durban on Wednesday. Photo's of the convoy made it into the inside pages of Trouw and de Volkskrant. The South African authorities even closed two motorways to make way for the six-kilometre-long convoy of 175 lorries, 4x4s, campers, even an ancient VW Beetle.

The FIFA may not have noticed, but this too is a publicity stunt. Many of the vehicles bear stickers for the Dutch-Belgian 2018 World Cup bid. The Orange Trophy, as the organisation is called, has travelled 20,000 kilometres from Amsterdam to Johannesburg to promote the bid. Above it a helicopter hovers, filming live pictures for an international press agency. Couldn’t get more blatant, you would think, the organisers are probably kicking themselves for not inviting the beer babes along.