They simply include soccer balls, pitches, goalposts and soccer phrases -- all of it in the public domain and not subject to any trademark laws -- in the hope that the World Cup euphoria taking hold of Germany will make their products irresistible.

SOCCER BALLS, SOUP AND SEX

With two weeks left until the World Cup starts, it is almost impossible to escape the soccer theme.

One German supermarket chain superimposes pictures of soccer balls over run-of-the-mill advertisements of pork steaks, beer kegs, Swiss cheese, frozen spinach, barbecue sets, plastic food containers, biscuits, canned sausages and canned corn.

Makers of sausage, virtually a staple food in Germany, have also got in on the act. In some supermarkets you can find soccer ball sausages and slices of pork luncheon meat that show a soccer player dribbling a ball down the pitch.

Other soccer items at supermarkets include: "soup strikers" -- instant soup with soccer ball noodles; "half-time" pizza with Berlin curry sausage; crunchy snacks shaped like soccer balls and players. One can even buy a "World Cup" of potato salad.

Germany's thriving sex shop industry has also tried to capitalise on World Cup fever. One of the leading German erotic paraphernalia peddlers is marketing vibrators with names like "home team", "captain" and "hard shot on goal".

A poster seen at some German sex shops has a picture of two women in thongs, one squatting over a soccer ball in front of a goalpost. She wears socks with black, red and gold stripes -- the colours of Germany's flag.

Another woman sporting red and white -- the national colours of neighbours Austria and Switzerland -- lies on her back, clutching a vibrator.

"Our boys only rejoice after they've scored," the poster declares.