Leave it to the Russians to come up with a unique, albeit weird, way to encourage population growth within the country.
September 12th is the third annual "Day of Conception" - the government is giving time off so that their population can do something about the nation's continually shrinking birth rates and accompanying high death rates.
The complete story is here, but the sales incentive is at the end of the story: If 
you happen to give birth exactly nine months later, on Russia's National Day holiday, you're in line to win one of these incredible prizes!...
"The hope is for a brood of babies exactly nine months later on Russia's national day. Couples who "give birth to a patriot" during the June 12 festivities win money, cars, refrigerators and other prizes."
It's not sales lead generation, I'll admit. But lets face it, you have to smile when a government employs some good incentive programs in an effort to up their "sales totals". 
The report in Denver Post is not quite accurate. The governor has no authority to declare any day a non-working one, so the 12th of September has never been a day off even in Ulyanovsk region. Couples just registered their intention to have a child on the 12th of June (I don't know how and where exactly they had to register), and those who really gave birth to a child on that day received prizes.
There are mixed opinions about this initiative. Many people think that the governor promotes not the birthrate, but himself.
Posted by: Anton Pishchour | August 21, 2007 2:11 AM | Permalink to Comment