Sponsors were critical to the creation of Epcot Center, and some of the very first corporations to sign on for the park were German companies. One of the earliest was Goebel, who sponsored the Glas und Porzellan shop in the Germany pavilion. It remained an Epcot presence until 2010, when the shop closed to make way for the Karamelle-Kuche candy store.
So with Epcot Center being such a big deal in 1982, and with sponsors having shelled out admirably for a seat at the table, why not advertise a little bit and get some of that Epcot mojo?
No, that's not at all creepy!
It’s a bold advertising strategy to include one of the scary World Showcase dolls looming over the doorway of your establishment.
It’s nice to see a restrained and classy ad without Goofy in Lederhosen. The giant doll of course, remains unexplained.
The giant dolls *always* remind me of the Bond movie where they’re at Carnival and Richard Kiel is walking around in that costume lurking.
I worked in marketing for the Bradford Exchange a while back, which had the license to produce Hummel collector’s plates. I don’t think I ever saw any of those in the Germany pavilion, however 🙂