Photos from the Hungarian bathhouse where German insurer Mannheimer International sponsored a corporate sex retreat

As much of the US enjoys the last part of a 3-day weekend, you may be enjoying a burger and beer, happy for the perk of days off on holidays. Perhaps you’re creative with your vacation time and decided to use an off day on Tuesday to really extend things, and that’s normally how workplace perks in the US unfold. In Germany, it’s possible you could have gotten a company sponsored companion to perk up your weekend in a completely different way.

You may have heard about the scandal surrounding a a large German insurance company who sent top performing employees on an orgy retreat. If you haven’t, “corporate orgy retreat” is kind of self-explanatory but we also had a moment of “did I hear that correctly?” when learning about the story so here’s a brief overview: in 2007 German insurer Mannheimer International paid for a spa retreat in Hungary for 100 of their top performers. The guys weren’t there for mani/pedis though; 20 pre-paid prostitutes were brought in to… entertain the men. The prostitutes had color coded bracelets signifying who could request their services (certain women were restricted to top execs), and received stamps for each man they’d serviced.

Just in case you missed the math on that, 100 men divided among 20 women equals 5 men in one night on average. Prostitution is legal in Germany, and if someone chooses to enter the world’s oldest profession that’s their prerogative, but that’s some pretty gross overtime. Not to mention, you’d think that guys who work with numbers all day would be slightly more calculating, but we digress.

The point is that while that particular outing has become something of an embarrassment since making its way into the news, such “perks” aren’t uncommon for German businesses, according to Der Spiegel.

Brothel visits at trade fairs and sex parties are seen as ways of providing (exclusively male) employees with an incentive that goes beyond the  normal pay raise or bonus. A representative from a German sex worker association posits that the red light reward trend may also be popular precisely because it would be embarrassing if made public.

“Rewards bind the interested parties and are therefore often the little connection to corruption,” she says. “If a reward in the form of prostitution is taken, then a much easier potential for personal blackmail emerges.” But the person who arranges and pays for the sexual encounter is also at risk of blackmail. {Der Spiegel}

Well, that’s one way to ensure loyalty.

We can only hope that the legality of  the events themselves help to ensure that everyone involved is a willing participant. Victims of human trafficking can often be forced into sex work, and in a field no one wants to admit they’re involved with that makes it all too easy for traffickers to continue what can be very shady, terrible treatment of women.

Bathhouse image via Handelsblatt

Michael Kors retail locales have been popping up left and right. His newest store will be replacing the 7,000 sq. ft. Rockefeller Center shop at 49th Street and Channel Gardens currently housing Kenneth Cole (which is slated to close its doors this April, along with eight other full-price locations). The much-sought-after space will don marble floors, wood displays and a zebra hide motif.

Ready-to-wear from the Michael Michael Kors line alongside accessories from the Michael Kors, Michael Michael Kors, and Kors Michael Kors collections will be featured.

“The opening of my lifestyle flagship boutique at Rockefeller Center is an extremely humbling and exciting reality,” Kors said. “As both a designer and a native New Yorker, what could be more incredible than a store in the heart of the city at Rockefeller Center?”

Michael Kors is making big moves all over the world with lifestyle boutiques already in operation in Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canary Islands, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the UK-just to name a few.

The brand is currently eyeing space on Robertson Boulevard in Los Angeles, Madison Avenue in New York as well as a three-year plan to open 50 stores in the greater China region. {Daily Front Row}

The most unexpected aspiration? Kors would follow Vera Wang in jumping on the burger bandwagon if asked by the right chain. “I want a deal with In-N-Out Burger — to do a special sauce or a wrapper. I’m horseradish-obsessed!” {LA Times} Not sure if an In-N-Out burger with purchase will draw in the fashionistas, but if anyone can make it work, it would probably be Kors.

The first solar powered Burger King

Designed with Wirsol Solar AG, the establishment boasts 720 solar panels on the roof and a wind turbine, from which the restaurant will pull about 45 percent of it’s energy. Capable producing 56,000 kiloWatt hours a year, the arrangement may not be entirely carbon neutral but it’s a step in the right direction. The restaurant was designed with several energy saving features that will both save money and test the effectiveness of such features for a building that consumes quite a bit of energy. With a heat recovery system, LED lights and water heated from waste, the new franchise marks the beginning of a greening initiative by Burger King’s BK Positive Steps.

The restaurant also adopted BK’s 20/20 design program, which makes the interior design of new and existing Burger King establishments sleeker in an attempt to give the fast food giant a touch of class, and a point of differentiation from similar competitors. Already implemented in over 60 locations worldwide, Burger King representations announced in October that they planned to implement the design in another 75 locations by the end of 2010. {Greener Buildings}

Started in 2008, the global opportunity to goof off is part of an “urban playground movement” that aims to get people out from in front of the television, and out into the streets having fun. Let’s hope it catches on as a way to settle differences, because we’ve never seen more people look so happy to be in a fight.

Our thanks to Doug Tangren, Margaret Griffis, Dilip Bhoye, Bas van Duijn, Chris Beckett, Holger Eilhard, Paul Oberle, Angel James de Ocampo, Emmanuel Alvarado, William Hoiles, Jennifer Strauss and Steve Stearns for sharing their photos.

Amsterdam Pillow Fight photo set
Bas van Duijn

Chicago Pillow Fight photo set
Steve Stearns

Cologne (Koln) Pillow Fight photo set
Holger Eilhard

London Pillow Fight photo set
Chris Beckett

Los Angeles Pillow Fight photo set
Jennifer Strauss

Miami Beach Pillow Fight photo set
Margaret Griffis

New York Pillow Fight photo pool
With images from William Hoiles

New York Pillow Fight photo set
Doug Tangren

Paris Pillow Fight photo set
Angel James de Ocampo

San Diego Pillow Fight photo set
Emmanuel Alvarado

Taipei Pillow Fight photo set
Dilip Bhoye

Washington, DC Pillow Fight photo set
Paul Oberle