Doctored Protests

In the last few months, Germany has got used to the sight of demonstrating doctors.

But their most recent public protest against pay cuts and lay-offs was still a striking spectacle -- some 200 demonstrators gathered outside the Reichstag holding up thousands of fluttering white doctors' coats in the wind.

Rent-a-demonstrator

Onlookers might, however, have been a little taken aback by how young some of the doctors looked.

That's because they weren't doctors. Most of them had been recruited through an Internet employment agency. In the job description, applicants were told they would be holding up a placard as part of a publicity stunt. And the pay? A respectable 30 euros ($39) an hour -- which proved that doctors -- whose slogan is "Miserliness makes you sick" -- are not afraid to put their money where their mouth is and shelled out over 5,000 euros for the privilege of not actually having to pound the pavements in person.

A number of politicians were outraged to hear the demonstration was actually just PR.

"It shows their true colors," said the Social Democrats' deputy parliamentary leader, Elke Ferner. "They don't bother demonstrating for their own interests, they just hire professionals to do it for them."