To promote Germany as the “Land of Ideas,” the German government has called on the oldest marketing trick in the book — and if you’re passing through Grand Central Terminal, you can’t miss it.

A Dusseldorf-born supermodel, Claudia Schiffer, adorns a series of posters with slogans like “Come on over to my place,” “Care to get acquainted?” and “Size does matter,” referring, of course, to Germany’s nanotechnology industry. Each ad invites commuters and tourists to “Invest in Germany.”

The government is seizing on the FIFA World Cup as an opportunity for a major rebranding. Designed by Berlin agency Scholz & Friends, the $30 million “Invest in Germany” campaign has targeted London, Tokyo, and New York as prime sources of foreign investment. President Koehler coined the rallying cry “Land of Ideas” in an attempt to portray the country as cosmopolitan, innovative, and modern. Germany already has the third-largest economy after America and Japan and as a result of booming export sales, the population has begun to spend more and German businesses are expanding.

And then there’s the World Cup. As host nation, Germany didn’t hold back, investing $16 billion in security, marketing, and infrastructure. More than 60,000 jobs were created for the World Cup, with 20,000 remaining now that the tournament is over. When the tournament opened in Munich on June 9, the match attracted a global TV audience of 1.5 billion, and over the past month 2 million soccer fans have flocked to the 12 participating cities in the country.

The feel-good effect of the World Cup has already been infecting the international business community. The co-founder and CEO of MySpace.com, Chris Dewolfe, recently told the Financial Times that Germany and France were the first of 11 countries to be earmarked for the network’s global expansion.

The black, red, and gold of Germany’s national flag are conspicuous in the “Invest in Germany” campaign; an emblem rarely seen in New York, and, in fact, rarely seen in Germany until very recently.

“In England everyone waves the English flag,” Ms. Schiffer told a press conference at London’s German Embassy before the Cup. “At the moment, this does not exist in Germany at all … I hope within Germany we can make it cool that we can wear a German flag and not be embarrassed about it.”

The World Cup brought patriotic fervor to a fever pitch within the host nation, and suddenly flags were flapping with alacrity. One Berlin department store reported a 1,000% rise in sales of the German flag compared with World Cup 2002.

For Germans, this new faith in the “Schwarz Rot Gold” is a positive step toward reclaiming a national pride haunted by half a century of guilt after World War II. Germany’s official World Cup slogan, “A Time to Make New Friends” complements the “Invest in Germany” campaign, and coincides with a tangible optimism among the German people.

“Projecting a positive image of Germany and its people” was the key objective for this World Cup according to Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior. Berlin taxi-drivers were given crash courses in English before the Cup, restaurant staff were instructed to ask customers if they enjoyed their meal instead of asking, “Are you full?,” and a billboard campaign as far back as January encouraged Berliners to start smiling more.

The initiative bore fruit. A survey of visitors conducted by Germany’s tourist authority found more than 90% felt welcome in Germany and would recommend it as a tourist destination.

So how do New Yorkers feel about the long-maligned nation, and what impression has the “Invest in Germany” campaign left? According to a cross-section of subway riders, the most common things people associated with Germany were cars, beer, and the Third Reich. Men generally responded well to Ms. Schiffer, while some women would have preferred to have seen men and/or children on the posters.

A photographer, Joe Bevilacqua, said, “I’m sure there are pretty ladies in Germany, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I want to invest money there. When you talk about money, you’re using an entirely different part of the brain.” However, most said that Ms. Schiffer did bring Germany to their attention.

When asked about her role in the campaign, Ms. Schiffer said, “It’s time to end the clichés about Germany.” For the time being, it seems, the world can tolerate the cliché of the Teutonic blond.