31 October 2007

THE HAGUE – TNT Post is not too happy about stamps depicting crime boss Willem Holleeder. A fellow inmate sent in photos of Holleeder as part of TNT Post's ‘Make the Netherlands' nicest stamp' campaign.

TNT Post says the judging committee has not dropped the ball. "The committee judges whether the average Dutch person would offended by the material. That is not the case here," said a spokesperson.

Since 2003 anyone can design their own stamps for use on domestic post.

TNT started a contest at the beginning of October with the theme "Love." The company launched an advertising campaign calling on people to design their own stamps using this theme. TNT wanted to raise consumer awareness of its ‘design your own stamp' product.

The stamp showing Holleeder was submitted as part of the contest. But a TNT spokesperson says the design never would have won because it had little to do with the theme.

TNT Post said the incident has prompted it to review its conditions for self-designed stamps. The company finds it "very irritating" that this has happened. Designs with a swastika or pornographic image, for example, would never be printed, they say.

Holleeder's lawyer Jan Hein Kuijpers told the Telegraaf: "He feels honoured that now he, just like the queen, has his own stamp."

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2007]

Subject: Dutch news